Strange and Beautiful
by DayDreamBeliever'93
Summary: After Bella breaks up with football star Mike Newton, she starts a new bond with her lab partner. Together they mend each others past wounds and start a relationship that teaches them more about themselves in the process. AH / AU / ExB.
1. Brown Eyed Girl

**TWILIGHT AND ITS CHARACTERS BELONG TO SM**

_I always promised myself that I would never do a Twilight FanFiction, however the other month in class (math class of all places) I had this story in my head that never left. So when I got home I got out my lap top and started typing. This is what came out, I have more chapters to this story already written, but I don't want to continue it till I know at least more then 3 people are interested in it, then I will continue posting more chapters up. _

_Basically this is another Edward and Bella story, but Bella is the more popular student who has lived in Forks her whole life. Her mother left a few years ago, and shes dating the star of the football team; Mike Newton. When their relationship hits rock bottom, Bella starts bonding with quite Edward Cullen, and discovers a lot about herself, friendship, and love while thier relationship blossoms. _

_Yeah it's been done several times, but not by me. So R&R if you would like me to continue. I will post Chapter 2 up too tonight, because I feel that Chapter 1 isn't as good as the second, or the third. But that's just my POV, I would love to hear yours. So heres my first Twilight FanFic. _

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_**Chapter 1: Brown Eyed Girl**_

**BPOV**

That annoying alarm clock that my mother bought me woke me up at six-thirty in the morning. I hated that damn thing as much as I hated her leaving me here to rot. She left me and Charlie three years ago, and moved across the country, and I absolutely despised her for leaving me behind.

Me and my mother were always close, we did everything together, and I just couldn't understand why she didn't take me with her, or at least give me the option to go with her.

So there I was, with Charlie in good old Forks, Washington, where I had resided for all of my sixteen years on the planet. I attended the only high school in Forks, with all the other two hundred and fifty students.

I rolled over to violently punch that damn alarm clock, when I opened my eyes and seen a picture of me and Mike Newton. My boyfriend and I had been going out since my mother left. He understood what I was going through at the time and was there for me when I felt most alone. I smiled at the thought of how kind he'd been, and how that goofy smile of his always made me die a little inside.

I got up then, and proceeded with my morning ritual. For the day I picked out my dark skinny jeans and my red blouse. I would have loved to wear the blue one, but Mike always told me how good I looked in red, and I wanted to give him something to really smile about today.

I walked down to the kitchen where my cousin Alice was already waiting. Alice moved in with me and Charlie over the weekend, and today was her first day at Forks High School. Alice moved in with us after her father got another job and was relocated in China. Alice really didn't want to move, and Charlie noticed how lonely I was, especially with being the only female in the house. So he voluntarily opened our doors to Alice.

"Morning Alice," I greeted at I walked around the counter to make myself a bagel. Alice and I were always close, and I was really looking forward to living with her. She smiled her bright smile as she nodded her little pixie head and swallowed her juice with a big gulp.

"So when is Rosalie getting here?" She asked as I buttered my bagel. I always used butter; I could not stand cream cheese. "Around eight o'clock, we still have twenty minutes till she gets here." Rose and I had been best friends since we were nine, and according to her twin brother, Jasper, me and her, ruled the school. I highly doubted his antics. He was always over analyzing and blowing things way out of context.

Just then Charlie walked into the kitchen. "Hey girls," he greeted with that big fake smile he had worn every day since my mother left. "Alice, you excited about going to school today?" She smiled at him sweetly and nodded. "Yeah I am, and thanks again for taking me in Uncle Charlie. I really appreciate it. I don't think I would have lasted a day in China." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. I laughed at her as I imagined little Alice trying to get through the big city alone.

Rose was there at eight-fifteen as I had predicted, and Jasper was in the car with her this morning. I took notice when he couldn't stop staring at Alice as she climbed into the back seat beside him. "Hey Rose, you remember Alice." Rose smiled, "Yeah, hey Alice." I looked at Jasper as he was still staring at her with his eyes popping out of their sockets. "Jazz, this is my cousin Alice. Alice, this is Jazz, Rosalie's twin brother." Alice extended her hand out to him and smiled that always friendly smile of hers. "Hey, nice to meet you Jazz, I'm Alice." Jasper snapped out of his trance long enough to shake her hand and look coherent.

Rose went on and on about her shopping spree the day before, and pointed out her new blond highlights, which I noticed as soon as I got in the car. She looked gorgeous in her denim jacket and pants. Rose always looked good, especially when she didn't even try.

When we got to the school, Mike met me at the front doors by planting a kiss on my cheek. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled into his eyes as he did the same to me. "Hey, sweets, how was you night?" I pondered that thought. "It was good. Me and Alice watched a movie and reminisced. How was yours?" He shook his head, "It was boring. Me and the guys just played a little game of one-on-one. It would have been better if you were there though. Nothing is ever as good as it is when you are around." I immediately felt my cheeks redden.

"Walk me to class?" I asked hopeful. Mike hesitated. "I would sweets, but me and the guys were going to skip class and head on over to the mall. There's this sale on surfing items and..." I cut him off by pulling my arms back from around his neck. I had enough of this. He was always sweet on the surface, but then he pulled this damn shit; every time. "Okay, never mind, just....forget it." I walked into the school, leaving him standing there with the guys, looking a little grateful that I hadn't pressed him about it. Truthfully, I had had enough.

As I walked myself to class, again, I felt a little embarrassed that this was the case. I shouldn't have had to put up with Mike treating me like this, it wasn't fair. I waited for Alice by her locker, she had asked me to take her to her first period class since she had no idea where to go, and being new to any school can't be easy.

"Hey, where's Mike?" She asked with only curiosity in her voice. "Don't know, don't care," I simply answered. "Come on, I'll show you where your class is." Alice had music, and I wished her luck. Mr. Peterson would surely give her a hard time; he gave everyone a hard time.

In first period all I wanted to do was scream. Mike had ruined my good day. He usually did when he was a totally clueless jerk. I did everything for him, and he always blew me off right after sweeping my off my feet. I just had to make it through the day, and then tomorrow would be another fresh start – hopefully.

**EPOV**

My life in Forks was dull and monotonous. After we moved here five years ago, Uncle Carlisle and Aunt Esme had never been happier. Emmett had never been more popular, and I had never been more bored.

As soon we got here, Emmett had asked Rosalie Hale out. No nerves on that guy. Both Jessica and Lauran asked me out, but I simply turned them down nicely. I had told them that I wasn't ready to start dating, especially since we just moved here. But since then, I still hadn't dated anyone, and I had heard through the grapevine that they both thought that I was gay, but they were both completely wrong. I just wasn't into girls like Stanley, Hale and Swan, girls that were full of themselves, with their jock boyfriends, and designer clothes. They were the reason I hated going to Forks High everyday.

Emmett was on the phone with Rosalie, like he was every morning. That guy was totally whipped. Carlisle was already gone to the hospital, and Esme was just leaving for work. Uncle Carlisle and Aunt Esme took me in when I three after my parents died in the accident. They were practically my parents, and I had nothing but full respect for them. Emmett was their only son, and was also a complete air head. I think they enjoyed at least having a nephew that brought in the high grades.

"Morning Edward, there eggs on the oven if you're hungry, and I won't be home till late, and Carlisle probably won't be in till later too. I have this conference and he's picking up the night shift. So it will just be you and Emmett here for supper. Please, try not to kill each other," Esme quickly rambled as she got her briefcase in order. "Yeah, okay. I'll be sure not to get any blood on the walls either," I rolled my eyes at her. She smiled and kissed my cheek; Esme was always so kind and caring, "Good, be sure to watch the drapes too. See you later," and with a final grin, Esme left for work.

Emmett came into the foyer then, still on the phone with Rosalie. "Aw, come on babe, can't they take her truck?" Emmett whined as he past by me indifferently. "Well Jasper can walk...No I can't walk...But what about...Oh come on...Yeah, you're right...I love you too...Okay see you at school, love you, bye." Yeah, he was totally whipped.

"So Rose isn't picking me up today, and the Jeep is down. Can I hop in the Volvo with you today?" I was annoyed with Emmett; he knew I hated it when he rode with me to school. He was always complaining about my music, and well, pretty much everything. "Yeah okay, but we listen to what I want to listen to." Emmett laughed and punched my shoulder, "Sure thing little cousin."

The school parking lot was busy as usual first thing in the morning, and I parked in my usual spot; far away from the air headed popular sell outs. Emmett rolled his eyes at my spot, and left without a word.

I glared at him as he walked up to Rosalie, and noticed Bella Swan's cousin, the new student at Forks High. The short pixie like girl was walking beside Bella and had Jasper Hale on her left. She already had a full on admirer. When Bella started talking to her boyfriend, Newton, her cousin turned her full attention to Jasper, it was clear that they were flirting. Great, another air headed popular sell out.

First period went by quickly, especially since I had already read all the material over my summer while I was in California at my grandparent's. They loved it when me and Emmett visited; too bad Emmett didn't enjoy it as much as they did.

I didn't remember attending second period, computers were always a bore. Third period always had my full attention. History was the one class that I always enjoyed going to, it was before lunch, and I didn't mind going over the same things over and over again; it never bothered me.

I was sitting in my seat, when the usually vacant seat beside me suddenly had a resident. I looked over to see Bella Swan's cousin, sitting there looking really nervous. It wasn't something I was used to seeing from and air head sell out, they were always so confident. She closed her eyes then, and a crinkle appeared on her forehead, as if she was trying really hard to block something out.

I cleared my throat, and her eyes popped open then, and she looked at me all wide eyed. She smiled sweetly and extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Alice. I just moved here from New York." I accepted her hand shake and nodded, I had heard that once over Emmett's phone calls. "I'm Edward, Edward Cullen." It looked like a light switch had turned on in her head, "Yeah, you're um...Emmett's cousin right?" Wow, word got around fast. I bet that Swan had told her that I was Emmett's gay cousin, the one from Michigan. I nodded, "Sometimes." She chuckled, "Yeah, I understand why you might want to keep that information a secret." I laughed with her, maybe she wasn't an air head after all.

Ms. Stringer went on with the lesson about First Nation Treaties, by using examples from the area. Alice looked bored throughout the whole class, by picking at her nails and sighing every now and then. Maybe she was an air head, after all anyone could agree on Emmett being an idiot.

After class, she met up with Swan. Something was wrong; Swan didn't look the way she usually did. In biology she was always happy, especially after lunch. Her and Mike would smile at each other, and I would get the death stare every now and then because I was her lab partner, which wasn't my idea, we were assigned.

But today something was off. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, maybe being popular wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Right then I seen someone else, not the brown eyed girl that everyone else thought they knew. But what did I know; I was only the quiet outsider that everyone ignored.

Lunch was just like any other day. I ate at my usual table with not one look in my direction. While I ate I drew in my sketch book for art class. I drew the cafe filled with all the busy students rushing around, and then when I looked up to get another look, I noticed that Swan was arguing with Newton. He had tried putting his arm around her, but she just slapped it off and walked away in the other direction. I caught myself laughing at Newton's expense.

I continued drawing my sketch, all throughout lunch and by the time the bell rang, and I had already finished my assignment. As I walked off to biology, Swan was still ignoring Newton to what looked like the full extent. He looked like a little puppy at her heels.

I sat at our table in the back of the room, and Swan came in shortly after I did. Newton was still begging at her heels, and she simply ignored him with her head held high. "Come on sweets, I've apologized like a thousand times." She still didn't reply. "You know I love you, you're my baby, my brown eyed girl. I need you to forgive me." And she still looked forward not caving at all.

Mr. Banner came in the room as the bell rung. "Mr. Newton please take your seat." Newton looked at Swan one last time, "Fine don't forgive me today, go listen to you're dumb music, shop with Alice and Rosalie for all I care. You will forgive me by tomorrow," he harshly whispered, and it sounded more like an order then anything else.

After he had left our table, she let out a big gust of air that she was obviously holding that whole time, and dug her nails into the desk. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and slowly opened them. She looked pissed, and it was clear she was infuriated.

She didn't speak all class, and when the bell went, she strode past Newton without a single glance in his direction. I knew that he was probably right though, they never stayed mad at each other for more then an hour.

At the end of the day I had seen that my prediction came true, Swan had forgave Newton. They walked out of school together with his arm wrapped loosely around her shoulders. She still looked pissed, but not as mad as before, and he looked really smug.

Alice was waiting with Jasper by Hale's car; she smiled and waved at me as I walked past the red BMW. I nodded back at her; I wasn't going to completely ignore her; I wasn't that pig headed. Emmett caught up with me after he said goodbye to Hale. He climbed into the car without a word like usual, and I drove us home.

My life in Forks was dull and monotonous.

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Please keep in mind that this is just Chapter 1. The story will get moving along more so next chapter. Remember, R&R! Thanx.

~DayDreamBeliever'93


	2. Pieces of What

**TWILIGHT AND ALL ITS CHARACTERS BELING TO SM, NOT ME (Obviously) **

_Heres Chapter 2 to my Twilight FanFic. Hopefully this makes you more interested to continue reading. It will move along faster with the next chapter, and I am sorry if the Chapters kinda drag on. I ramble, so my story might ramble on from time to time too. Sorry, I know it's not a very good trait, but it's one I have. _

_Enjoy, Chapter 2._

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_**Chapter 2: Pieces of What**_

**BPOV**

That morning was so unbearable I couldn't take it anymore. Mike had skipped both our morning classes, and he skipped out on me for the tenth time that week, yes I had kept count. He had a football game that Wednesday, and if he wanted any chance to play he had to attend classes. I had told him this time and time again, but he still didn't care. He was convinced the coach would play his star player no matter what, and sadly he was right. That's when I snapped inside. He got everything he wanted by slacking off, and I'd be damned if I was one of them.

When lunch came around, Mike walked up to me at my locker with that fucking goofy grin on his face. "Hey babe, the big game is this Wednesday, be sure to get front row seats. I want you front and centre when I get that touch down for you." That was it. "When you score for me? Okay, well let's say that the coach doesn't play you because you skipped out on class, what will you do then, warm the bench for me?"

He looked really oblivious then, and smiled and waved at someone over my shoulder. He wasn't even listening to me. I slammed my locker, rolled my eyes and stormed away. I heard Mike shuffle his feet, and quickly run to catch up to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, but I quickly pushed him off of me. Now he looked confused.

"What's the matter with you? You usually are all pumped game week?" He was unbelievable. "Have you ever, just once paid attention to me lately? I hate game week. You are always out skipping class and nothing ever happens, and you skip out on me and nothing happens then either." He stopped then and pulled me into an empty classroom.

"What's up with you? I know I haven't been around, but its game week and I'm occupied." Now I was furious. "You have not once asked me wholeheartedly what I was thinking. Today, for the fifth time in a week you blew me off."

"Is it PMS, because you are really coming off with a little touch of PMS." I couldn't listen anymore, so I stormed out of the empty room and headed to the cafe. Mike ran after me then. "Okay, I'm sorry." I scoffed, "No you're not, and you don't even have any idea what you're apologizing for."

"Yeah," he began, "that PMS joke. But that's what we do Bella, we joke and laugh and move on." He thought this was a flirtatious game? "Do you see me laughing?" I asked bewildered.

"No, I guess not. But I really don't see what you're so mad about. I love you, you know that. So why are you making a big deal about me skipping class?"

It wasn't just that he skipped class; I just didn't feel us anymore. When I asked to talk to him about it, or if we could have privacy he always ditched me. There was nothing there for me anymore, and if there was something for him, I knew he would, like he once did, would be willing to do anything for me again.

We were in the back of the cafe then, and it was filled with busy students rushing around. They passed by me in blurs, I didn't see a single one of them clearly; all I saw was me and Mike in our world. Then Mike turned into a blur like the rest of them, and I knew he was slipping away too. Just like everything else important to me; my mother, my childhood, my world, and now Mike. He was all I had, and I once needed him, but there was nothing there anymore, he was now just another blur.

"You want to prove you still love me?" I asked, and he nodded once. I spoke to him in a slow quite voice, "Then all you have to do is not play on Wednesday. Don't get on the field. I don't want the winning touch down, I want the bench." I tried to look as serious as I could make myself look, and he laughed at me. "Are you honestly serious? It's the play offs, I can't just sit out." I looked deep in his eyes then, "fine, then you don't love me simple as that." He tried putting his arm around my shoulder but I slapped it off and walked away from him. It was my lunch break too, and I sure was hungry, and tired of being the only one fighting for our relationship.

Alice looked content talking with Jasper, Rose and Emmett so I didn't bother interfering. I knew my sour mood would seep through, and they would surely notice. Mike didn't sit with me, but he caught up with me again on our way to biology. He was still a blur to me, just another image floating outside around me. I think he was grovelling, but I couldn't hear a word he said, I was completely tuned out, and simply tired of hearing what he had to say.

When I entered the class, I went straight to my lab table where my lab partner was already sitting in his seat. My partner was Edward Cullen, and when we were assigned, Mike wasn't happy at all. In fact, he despised Edward because of this, which was pointless to me.

Mike was leaning over our table then, and whispering something to me. I still wasn't listening, and I was really tired. Mr. Banner caught his attention when he came in, and Mike whispered something else before he finally left our table.

I closed my eyes and felt like I could finally breathe. I needed him to give me space, because when he was around, there was absolutely no breathing space at all for me. I felt my fingers press into the table with great force of anger that I had held in for the past two months. If my anger had its way, it would have done a lot more damage then leaving my nail marks in the table top.

Class was another blur, and by the time it was over, I took another big gulp of air before I rushed past Mike. I was almost in the clear when I felt his arm tug on my coat pocket. "We need to talk." Yeah, hadn't he figured that out already?

He looked really sincere, so I turned and looked at him, trying really hard to see into the now foggy blur that was once the Mike I knew. "I won`t play, especially if playing means that we would lose what we have. We need to just save what we have and put the pieces back together." He still wasn't clear, and that scared me because he was once the only clear thing in my world.

"Yeah, pieces of what Mike? There's nothing here anymore," he pulled me close then. "The pieces of our relationship, the ones that we let fall apart. It's me and you remember? So, let's try to fix it, and we'll see where we go from there, okay?"

I didn't want to give up on Mike and us, but I think I already had. He was gone, just like my mom. But unlike her, he still wanted me; or at least he said he still did. So I agreed it was worth a shot. Mike smiled at me and pulled me into his chest.

He held me close, and let go too quickly for Mike, he usually held on for as long as he could. That only crushed my chances of hope, and proved to me that we were only denying the inevitable, and it was only a matter of time till we both knew it was the end.

Alice had settled in right away at Forks High, and was already going to the football game with Jasper. That girl worked fast. Tuesday had gone by in a flash. Me and Mike spent the day at school together, and it was obvious he was trying, but was I? I didn't know anymore. It hurt too much to try to analyze it, and I hated analyzing. It only made me depressed.

Mike had promised me again today, before we went out separate ways, that he wasn't going to play, and insisted that it was for me. But I didn't want it to be for me, I wanted it to be fore us. He squeezed my hand and walked away, leaving me at my truck. _He squeezed my hand. _

Me and Alice were picking out our clothes for tonight's game, and I made sure to wear our school colours. So I put on my red headband, wore my black leather jacket because it was a cool night, my red v-neck shirt, and my black skinny jeans (guess what our school colours were). Alice looked great in her black and red scarf, and black skirt. I got Alice to help me curl my hair as she went on and on about how cute she thought Jasper was. I had to laugh at how obvious it was that she liked him as much as he liked her, but she wouldn't admit it. My hair was done all in lose curls and dropped to the middle of my back. With one last look in the mirror I decided that I looked pretty good, and would surely show off my team spirit, even if my boyfriend was sitting on the sidelines tonight.

When I got to the game I was surprised to see that Edward had come out of the car with Emmett's parents. He usually stayed home, actually, I never knew anything about him besides that he was good a biology. Emmett was quarterback and Dr. Cullen and his wife were usually first in line to see their son score the first touch down every game.

Me, Alice, Rose and Jasper went up to take our seats right in front. The game started slowly, until the other team scored, then they just ran with it. We were down by, I don't even know, they had scored so many and got so far ahead that we were sure to lose. Half time the cheerleaders did their routine that they used when we lost, which was a new one for them considering we never lost. After the players came back out, the whole crowd cheered and tried to boost up their spirits. I wasn't a huge football fan, but I knew that when a team was down by as much as we were their chances of catching up were slim to none.

I was enjoying the game to some extent, until Mike got up of the bench and put his helmet on. I felt...betrayed. It hurt because it was obvious that the game mattered more then me. Clearly he didn't care anymore because he got up like he had made the decision long before the game started. And I had just made mine.

I got up and excused myself from the group. I needed to be alone to think, and I definitely couldn't do it with all the fans screaming Mike's name in my ears.

**EPOV**

Tuesday was another dull monotonous day in Forks. I got up, drove Emmett to school, drew in the cafe at lunch, and came home at three-thirty. _Talk about dull._

Wednesday was Emmett's first game of the play offs, and Esme and Carlisle insisted that I had to be there. I truthfully didn't want to go, but if there was a chance that I could see Emmett fall flat on his face I would definitely be there. Emmett always cracked under pressure. So I reluctantly agreed to attend Emmett's game with the family.

They were down by a lot of goals, and I really didn't care who won. I had no school spirit at all, and all I wanted to do was leave. It was boring, and I had no idea what was going on in the game. I was in definite need of my iPod. Where had I left it?

"Carlisle, can I have the keys to the Mercedes? I want to go get my iPod; I think it's in the back." Carlisle nodded and handed me the keys. I think he was almost as bored as I was, almost.

As I left the stands, I could hear the fans starting to get excited. They started cheering over and over again, "Newton! Newton!" I had to role my eyes. How the public could have fallen for his fake charms was pathetic. He was nothing more then an idiotic icon, and not worth my time.

Just as I had thought, my iPod was in the back of Carlisle's car, and I couldn't have been more grateful. I locked the car with a clear click from behind me and headed reluctantly back to the stands with the rest of the screaming fans. I wondered if I left for the remainder of the game, if anyone would notice, but thought twice about it and continued walking forward.

On my way back to my seat, I saw Bella Swan standing against the wall on the back of the bleachers. She had her hands covering her face, and she looked lost. She was taking slow deep breaths as her long loose curls sat on her shoulders as she leaned her head against the wall. I proceeded to my seat when she banged her head against the wall twice. Something had to be wrong, and I wasn't that inhumane to ask.

I cleared my throat once to gain her attention. She dropped one hand and looked at me through her hair. She waited for me to speak, but I didn't want to ask her something that would offend her. She straightened up and looked at me. "Can I help you?" she asked with a sigh in an annoyed voice. "I was going to ask you the same thing," I truthfully answered her.

She still looked lost, but put her façade back on when she confronted me again. "Well, no thanks. I'm fine." She cocked an eye brow and me and tilted her head. "You're never at Emmett's games, so what's the deal?"

"Esme asked me to come. You're never not watching, so what's the deal?" I smirked at her. Two could play that card. She looked away then, and glanced back at me. "I just don't feel like...cheering tonight." I had to chuckle then, when did I ever want to cheer. "You and me both," I commented.

We stood there staring at each other with the screaming fans behind us. She played with the sleeves on her leather jacket as she grew more and more uncomfortable. "How come you never hang out with Emmett?" she asked, clearly trying to just make conversation. I smiled at her attempt. "Have you met Emmett? He's a jerk. My only family, but I just get tired of living with him, so I don't want to have to live with him at school too." She seemed to nod, understanding.

The fans cheered in the background; apparently our home team was catching up. "Doesn't it get old?" I asked, only curious. She looked at me through her curls again, hiding? "What?" she asked in a deep whisper. "The games," I gestured to the field, "school, the clothes, the parties..." I dragged on. I didn't want to offend her, but I didn't want to stand here and look like a fool any longer.

She nodded at me slowly and answered in a raspy voice, "Yeah, it gets old real fast." We locked eyes then, neither of us breaking it. She looked desperate for help, and I had the sudden erg to help her. She seemed normal. She didn't look like an air head then, she just looked like someone who had gotten lost in the world of popularity, and wanted to find herself again. I knew she was smart, I had seen her lab papers in biology, and I didn't help her at all with that, so she had to know a thing of two in that area.

Just then the crowd started clearing out by us. The game was over, and it looked like we won by one single goal. We had caught up since Newton started playing, and it didn't look like this pleased Bella Swan one bit.

She turned and forced a fake smile to Alice and Hale. "You missed it Bella!" Alice exclaimed. "They were down, but Mike got out ahead and showed them all. We won, and we play again at their home town on Saturday." Bella tried to look ecstatic, but that was obviously forced too. "You guys need a ride to the game on Saturday?" Hale asked. I seen Jasper's eyes light up with hope. "No," Bella began, "I'm not going Saturday, and I have things to do at the house." Alice looked at Bella confused and desperate, "But," Bella continued, "Alice will need a ride, you can come get her Saturday afternoon." Bella winked at Alice, and Alice smiled back gratefully at her cousin.

Carlisle and Esme came out then. "We have to wait for Emmett." Esme grabbed the keys from my hand, "I'll pull the car around," she smiled at us both and went to retrieve the car. Carlisle waited for her to leave before he looked at me again. "Didn't enjoy the game much, Edward?" Did he have to ask? "No, football is Emmett's thing, not mine. I just wanted to see him fall flat on his face," I admitted. Carlisle laughed, "Don't admit that to Esme." I laughed along with him. Carlisle was always the only one that understood me

I looked over my shoulder to see if Emmett came out of the room yet, when I noticed Mike walk out first. He looked at Bella before she shook her head and walked away from him. He didn't follow her this time; this time he walked in the opposite direction. She didn't look sad, just empty. It was as if there was nothing there for Newton anymore. I was just happy that someone finally realized that he was a total ass, better late the never I suppose.

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So there it is, Please R&R.

Should I continue to post or not?

That is up to the readers, so get back to me on that if you are interested on finding out what the future holds for Edward and Bella in my FanFic.


	3. Call It a Day

****Twilight and its Characters belong to Ms. Meyer****

_I've been waiting for awhile to update this, but seeing as how the site wasn't working, I couldn't. But its on here now. So heres Chapter 3. I can't say that another update will be soon because I have this major project due in English on Monday (About Mthyology :/ ). But__ a chapter will be up before the end of the month, I can say that much. _

_Thanks for the Reviews and Story Alerts, they keep me writing. Please, keep them comming. _

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_**Chapter 3: Call it a Day**_

**BPOV**

I didn't want to talk to Mike right away, because I knew it would just result in me yelling from the top of my lungs, and I really didn't want to waste my breath.

Rose dropped me and Alice off at home that night, and we went straight to our rooms. Charlie had given Alice his when she moved in, so Charlie's new room was in the basement. He didn't want Alice sleeping down there, not that she had protested.

The next day I still couldn't look at Mike without my blood rising. I just had to talk to him, to end it. But at the moment, it would have turned out to be our World War, what was it now, thirty-six?

That first day Mike had looked at me with loads of regret in his eyes. I didn't acknowledge him at all, if I had he might have been able to smooth talk me into forgiving him yet again, and that wouldn't have looked to good on my part. So I ignored him all day Thursday.

By Friday; I had enough self control to talk to Mike. I didn't want to talk to him at school because I might not have been able to concentrate for the rest of the day. At lunch I sat with Alice outside in the courtyard avoiding Mike. She distracted by talking about how she hoped after the weekend Jasper would finally ask her out.

"Rose is picking me up tomorrow morning at ten. Jasper is coming too. I hope he will ask me out after this weekend. Do you think he will? What if he doesn't like me? What if I've read all the wrong signals?" I had to shake my head at Alice, she was obviously unaware of her own affect on Jazz; she had already had him wrapped around her little pixie finger. "Alice, he will ask you out after the weekend; trust me." I tried to assure her. I didn't want to give too much away for Jazz's sake; it had to be special for them when the time came.

On my way into biology, I locked eyes with Edward Cullen. Why did I keep doing that? I had tried really hard to forget our uncomfortable conversation Wednesday night. As Emmett's cousin we all tolerated him, but that night it felt as if we had a lot more in common then our biology class.

When I sat at our table, I noticed Mike walk in and take his seat three rows in front of me. I had to admit that I was going to miss him. He was not only my boyfriend, but he was also my best friend at one point and time too.

I sat there and thought to myself as I reminisced about our good times together, when I was brought back to reality by Mr. Banner and his directions for the upcoming project that we had to do on reproductive cells.

"This is a big assignment for this unit. It's a group assignment, so you and you're lab partner are making a presentation on reproductive cells in either power point, a formal speech, or in a visual display format. It's due first thing Monday, and I want each group member to contribute an equal amount of teamwork." Mike turned and smiled at me then, probably hoping that we could try to patch things up when working on the project, until Mr. Banner rained on his mental parade. "Before you start making plans with your partners, let me remind you that you all already have partners. You will be working with your assigned lab partner on this project, so you both will have to make plans to work over the weekend. Have a great weekend, and I look forward to seeing a lot of creative ideas come Monday."

Mike's face had fallen as Mr. Banner continued giving instructions. When the bell rang, I turned to gather my books, while trying to figure out how Edward and I were going to do this thing. "So," I turned to face him as I got up from my seat, "how are we going to do this thing?" We exited the class together, and I took notice to Mike's reaction. He looked tense and suspicious, with a hint of jealousy, which was ridicules. He had no need to be jealous of Edward Cullen.

"Umm..." Edward thought as he answered my question, "Well, Emmett has that game this Saturday and everyone's going except me, and if you're not going, then we can either meet up at your place...or mine. Either one is fine with me, just as long as I get this done." He spoke with so much annoyance in his tone, as if he didn't want to work with me at all. But I nodded in agreement. I just wanted to get it done too.

Since Charlie was going to be home on Saturday, I really didn't want anyone there, even if it was just for homework. "Can we go to your place? Charlie will be home, and it would just be awkward." Edward looked hesitant. "Fine," he grumbled, and walked towards his next class. "Come over around two," he called over his shoulder. Fine, I thought angrily back at him. I guess I wouldn't have to make up a lie to Alice about having to miss the game on Saturday after all.

Gym class went by in another blur. Mike kept looking at me, like he really needed to say something. But what I had to say couldn't wait any longer. At the end of class, I met up with him at the gym doors. "Hey, Mike," He looked like a little hopeful puppy all over again, just like he did when he first asked me out freshman year. His smile when I approached him was so bright and welcoming it broke my heart when I realized what I was about to do. "We......I.......Can you meet me, at the diner tonight at seven? We need to talk." Mike's face fell as soon as the words left my mouth, but I couldn't do it at school, and this way I could bring all his things to the diner. "Sure," Mike reluctantly agreed and turned as he left me standing in the gym, still avoiding the inevitable.

When I got home after school that evening I gathered up all of Mike's things that were in my room. I fought the urge to keep the class ring he had given me when we first started dating, but decided giving everything back would be best. I put everything in a box along with his letterman jacket folded on top. He could really use it during the playoffs.

Alice was downstairs waiting by the phone in the living room. Her eyes glistened with excitement as she looked at me. "Jasper is supposed to call," she explained. I figured as much, so I smiled with encouragement at her and headed towards the kitchen to start dinner for Charlie.

When Charlie got home at six I had dinner all ready and my homework - other then my biology project – was complete. I sat and watched Alice stare at the phone. She was still waiting for Jasper to call, and was starting to look really impatient.

"Why am I still waiting by the phone for him to call? I am a strong independent woman aren't I? I shouldn't be anxiously waiting for him to call on a Friday night. It's Friday night. I should go out. Oh Bella?" Alice spoke so fast I had no idea where she was going with this. "What?" I asked with great caution. "What are we doing tonight?" She asked slyly. I thought about that. _Well, I'm breaking up with Mike_. "I have to go meet Mike at the Diner, but I should be back before eight." Alice's face dropped. "Well, I'm guessing you want to be alone, so what am I supposed to do. If I stay here, I will still be sitting by the phone waiting and hopelessly pathetic. I can't call Rose because she lives with Jasper and what if he answers? And I can't stand Jessica, so I'm not calling her. Bella, what am I supposed to do?"

Alice was desperate, but clearly didn't want to come off too desperate. "Well Alice, you are going to call Rose up on her cell so Jazz won't pick up. Then you are going to make plans to go out to Eric's party. Since Jasper didn't call, show him that you aren't going to wait around, and he's going to have to step up or someone else will before he even gets a chance. Rose will say yeah to the party- she never turns down a party- and you are going to get really dressed up, and you will look great," anybody would have to admit it, Alice looked great in anything no matter what the circumstances were, "and you are going to go over to Rose's in the new Porsche that your dad sent, and shock him senseless. He will be speechless, and you will come out on top. That's what you will do tonight." Alice's eyes immediately shined yet again. "Great idea, I did want to drive that new Porsche my dad got me, and Rose did want to see it. Will you and Mike be at the party later?" I shook my head, "No." Me and Mike wouldn't be at anything together anymore.

When I got to the diner, Mike hadn't arrived yet, so I kept his box of things in my car. Tammy, the waitress, sat me down at our usual table when I told her that I was waiting for Mike. "Would you like to see a menu?" she had asked, "No, its okay. Uh....we won't be staying long." Tammy nodded at me and went back to being hostess.

Mike was twenty minutes late – _what a surprise_. "Hey, sorry I lost track of time with the guys." When was he not losing track of time_? _"I bet," I cocked one eyebrow at him. "Look Mike, we really need to talk. I really need you to know something. This," I motioned between us while speaking slowly so he would take me seriously, "Us, isn't working anymore, and I think you know that." Mike looked down at his hands and avoided my gaze. "Mike, look at me," it took him awhile, but he finally lifted his head to meet my eyes, "this is hard...it..." I had to take a deep breath and fight back my tears.

We were quite and neither of us had said anything for nearly five minutes, both of us soaking it all in. "Bella," Mike began, "I'm sorry-" I nodded and cut him off, "I'm sorry too." I looked up at him through my eyelashes. I wasn't crying; I wouldn't cry when I was the one doing the breaking up – at least not in public.

I took off his class ring and placed it on the table top in front of us. He looked down and frowned at it before he picked it up off the table and placed it in his pocket, where it belonged. "I have your other things in my truck; I didn't want to...keep things lingering around my house. It would be too hard." He tried to smile at me, but turned it into a frown. "I still have your things at my house, I'll drop them off tomorrow before the game."

"Thanks that would be great." I replied wholeheartedly.

We walked out to my truck together, not speaking a word. "Are you coming to the game tomorrow?" he asked with his last ounce of hope, I hesitated. "It's okay you know. If you don't, don't." I nodded once again, not one-hundred percent sure what he meant by that. I gave him his box of things and took one last look at the letterman jacket on top, and wondered how long it would be till someone else was wearing that jacket I once occupied. "Good luck tomorrow," I said as I gave him one last hug. He held me back, but didn't hesitate when I pulled away. "Bella," I looked over at Mike one last time, "...thanks." I smiled with one quick nod and hopped up in my old Chevy.

As I drove home I finally felt content with myself. There were no more black clouds hanging over my shoulders, and nothing else upsetting my good mood; I had a clean slate. But when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw Mike still standing in the parking lot, the tears finally came running down my cheeks.

**EPOV**

After the game on Wednesday, I had a really hard time trying to forget the chance encounter I had with Bella Swan. She had seemed so lost, and fraglie, and just plain broken. I had the urge to help her, and I usually never have the urge to help anyone.

This bothered me all day Thursday. I seen her in the halls and I couldn't help but look. It seemed that she was still arguing with Newton, and this pleased me. I was proud of her, and happy that she didn't let herself suffer anymore. He really didn't deserve her.

Thinking about what was good for Bella only infuriated me more. I didn't like openly caring about another person, whenever I got attached, everyone seemed to slip away. Getting close to anyone wasn't in the cards for me.

Emmett sat with me at lunch Thursday, which was a surprise. He had to have wanted something. Jasper Hale was at his side, and by the looks of things, he was trying to prove to Jasper something insignificant. "Edward, you went to the game last night. I managed to score twelve points, right?" Jasper rolled his eyes at Emmett. I didn't know too much about sports, but what I did know was that Emmett tended to over exaggerated. Since I didn't pay attention to the game, I agreed with Jasper. "No, I only saw you get..." I trailed off and looked over at Jasper questioningly, who then finished my sentence. "See Em, you only scored two points. Don't add to it." I laughed along with Jasper. Emmett looked pissed. "Fine," he growled, "Let's just go look for another persons opinion, Edward's doesn't count," he sneered at me. Jasper chuckled at our exchange, "Yeah okay Emmett you do that. I want to at least eat something; I'm starving. I'll be here sitting with Edward." I'm sure my look was as startled as Emmett's had been. Jasper and I had only talked once or twice in the last four months, and nobody ever sat with me.

Emmett just shrugged and went to look for, possibly a fifth of sixth, opinion. Jasper came back with a pizza then, and I half expected him to walk off and join another table; but he didn't. We talked about Emmett and his parade around school looking for someone to agree with him, and he explained how they got into the meaningless debate in the first place.

After awhile, he got bored, anyone could see that, however that all went away when Alice approached our table. "Hey Edward, you have those History notes I missed today?" she smiled sweetly as she asked. What was it, talk to Cullen day? I hated providing notes for people who skipped out on class, but she continued. "I had to go to the clinic. My allergies were picking up." She shrugged and I reached over to pull my binder out of my bag. When I looked over, I happened to notice Jasper staring at her the whole time. He tried to be cool when he was talking to her, but anyone could see that he was already whipped. Just like Emmett was with Hale.

"Here Alice, that's everything you missed today, along with the questions and the page numbers on the back. We're starting WW1 on Monday, after tomorrows test." Alice was still looking at Jasper when she ripped her gaze from him and returned it to me. "Thanks, I'll return this first thing tomorrow in class." She gave a little graceful wave to us both over her shoulder as she walked away from our little table in the corner of the room.

Jasper looked at me with one of his eyebrows raised in confusion. His mouth formed a perfect little 'O' as he stared at me in confusion. "How do you know Alice when she just moved here?" I didn't know that lending her my notes implied that I knew her. "I don't know her," I said slowly, "she just sits beside me in history class." Jasper nodded once, either accepting what I told him as the truth, or just to make some sort of action. "So, you carry a torch for her Jazz?" I asked even though it was obvious. Jasper gave me that look, and rolled his eyes and shrugged. "She's impossible." It seems he had come to the conclusion that he was out of her league. "No matter what I do, she's always two steps ahead of me, and she always has to be right too." It was also clear that he hadn't asked her out yet. "So you haven't asked her yet?" Jasper shrugged again. I knew it was wrong to do so, but I really had to scoff at him. "What are you waiting for, someone else to do it first?" Jasper just looked away embarrassed. "I know I should talk to her, but I have a really hard time thinking around her let alone talking straight." He was hopeless in my perspective, but I wouldn't know what he was talking about because I had never felt that way before. But in Jasper's case, that made me grateful, because I really didn't want to if I would end up looking that pathetic.

Jasper looked at me hopeful then, "You talk to her, can you find out some things for me?" This shocked me. First of all, Jasper and I never really talked, and here he was asking me to secretly talk to his little crush, which indeed was literally little. Second, I only talked to Alice about three times, that hardly counts as being close, well to me it didn't anyways. "I don't talk to her Jasper." Jaspers face fell before he lit up again. "Well, could you try? You talk to her more normal then I do, you could become her friend easily. Do it for me, it's the male code." I had to chuckle again at Jasper, I never once followed the male code, but now for some odd reason I was willing to try for Jasper, just maybe. "Okay, maybe. But I don't see why you just don't ask your sister or Emmett or something. They probably have a better chance then I do." Jasper shook his head, "No, Rose won't get it, she's a girl. Emmett is too clueless half the time, and he's to close to Rose to keep his mouth shut. You will be more discrete about it. So are you in?" I sighed, "Fine, maybe. But if she gets suspicious I'm not going through with it." Jasper smiled and continued to eat what was left of his pizza.

The rest of the lunch period we talked about the schools upcoming events. Sports games that we both didn't want to attend, and that Halloween party that his sister was throwing that he resented. Jasper and I agreed on a lot of things when it came to the air heads, I wondered why we never talked more often. The semester one year end trip came up in conversation, and we both agreed that it was dumb and we both we not going to attend. The school was taking a trip to see the Musical Symphony in January in Seattle. It was something that I had already seen, and I wasn't interested in seeing it again. Truthfully it hadn't been that good of a performance.

Biology was a bore. All we talked about on Thursday was our review on the reproductive cells and I knew it inside out already. I took notice to Bella sitting straight and looking completely past Newton like he didn't exist. She could really give a cold shoulder, and I took note to stay on her good side.

After school was out, everyone was working up to the big game for Saturday. Even at home Emmett was pumped, and the game wasn't for a couple of days. Dinner time was always eaten at the dinning room table. Esme insisted it because we rarely seen each other any other time. Emmett talked about his big game the whole time, while Esme made plans to drive up with Carlisle. I insisted on staying home. I wasn't going to waste my Saturday in a car and at a boring field.

Friday was my off day. I found myself staring at Bella Swan more frequently, and I despised myself for it. I just couldn't figure out why I held such a high fascination for her, and it bothered me to no end. So for the rest of the day I did my best to ignore her as much as possible.

During lunch, Jasper came to sit with me again, getting weird looks from both Emmett and Hale. I didn't realize someone sitting with me was such a bad thing. Jasper had asked me if I had found anything else new about Alice. I hadn't, so I let him know that easily. I didn't want him to think that his backup plan had fallen through already.

Biology had been as long as all my other classes. Bella had caught me looking at her as we were walking into class. She stared back at me until I broke her gaze. That hour in biology was the most uncomfortable hour I had ever sat through in a class. Newton kept turning around to look at Bella, and that made it worse. I wanted to tell him to take a hint and give up already.

Mr. Banner had given us the instructions to our new project that was due on Monday. We had to complete a presentation with our lab partner, which meant that Bella and I were going to have to meet up some time over the weekend. Newton turned to glare at me, which wasn't a surprise. He had been glaring at me ever since we started this class a month ago.

After the bell had rung I turned to gather my things before Bella and I would have to decide where to meet. "So," she began as she got up to face me. "How are we going to do this thing?" She finished her question as we exited the class. Newton looked tense, and I had to mentally laugh at him before I realized that she was still waiting for me to reply. "Umm..." I remembered that Emmet was out of town this weekend, which worked for me. "Well, Emmett has that game this Saturday and everyone's going except me, and if you're not going, then we can either meet up at you're place...or mine. Either one is fine with me, as long as I get this done." I realized then that I really didn't want to do this project, because to be honest it sounded really tedious.

"Can we go to your place? Charlie will be home, and it would just be weird and awkward." She responded to my suggestion. I didn't want to go to her place anymore then she wanted me there, but I really didn't want her at mine either. I never had any company over at all, but I remembered that with Emmett out of town I would be saved from any embarrassment. I still had another class to get to, so I turned and headed for the other direction. "Fine, come over around two," I called over my shoulder. If I was late for my next class I would really have to talk my way out of study hall.

When I got home that evening, both Esme and Carlisle were at work and Emmett was packing up his things for the game on Saturday. He had told me about Eric's party. I vaguely heard all that he had said, so when Hale came to pick him up I was extremely happy to have the house to myself.

Bella would be over to work on our biology assignment the next day, and I found myself anxious. I had told myself that it was because I was anxious to get the thing over and done with, but I had to ask myself if it was for another reason. Was I excited because she was coming over, or was it really because I wanted to get my work completed? I really had no idea, but I knew that whatever the reason, I was going to find out when she came over.

*~*~*~*~*~

_Yeah, I'll admit that it was kinda long, but I felt that it all went together. I could have made it two chapters, but decided not to. This is sort of my way of giving you all two more chapters since there might not be another update for awhile. Please don't mind my many errors, I usually rush through my writing without revising it. I'm sorry about that, but I promise that I will try to fix that minor detail. _

_Again, please R&R. _

_~DayDreamBeliever'93_


	4. Move Along

**TWILIGHT AND IT'S CHARACTERS BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER**

_I said that this update would be up by the end of the month, well, I'm a day late. Darn. Well here is Chapter four, if you like it please Review. Enjoy and another update should be up again sometime next weekend. _

_**____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**_

_**Chapter 4: Move Along**_

**BPOV**

First thing Saturday morning Mike had dropped off a box of my things. There wasn't much, just a sweater, a hair brush, and my heart pendent. I thanked him politely, but I knew that nothing would be the same between us. It would never be the same; I could feel it between us. It was as if our once comfortable electric current had subsided. We would never look at each other the same again.

Alice had woken up that morning with a headache. I watched as she ran around the house, quickly gathering her things before Jasper and Rose had arrived. She explained to me how her previous night had gone. She spent the whole night parading around the room, talking from one circle to the next with Rose at her side. She had got to know quite a bit of people, all the while Jasper watched from where he had stood with Emmett.

She was positive that Jasper was going to ask her out now. "Are you sure you don't want to come to the game? It's going to be fun," she hedged when I still disagreed. Although the word 'play off' game had the word fun written all over it, I knew that it wouldn't be fun for me; plus, I still had to do my Biology homework. "No, Alice. I got work to do, remember?" Alice just nodded and continued to get ready.

Alice looked really confident as she left the house dressed from head to toe in red and black. She was hands down the best at putting together a great last minute outfit. I definitely wouldn't be able to put together a decent outfit at all to save my life.

I hadn't told Alice that me and Mike were through, if I had, I knew that it would result in her asking for all the details. She would insist on staying home to keep my company, but I couldn't do that to her. She was too exited about spending the day with Jasper.

I finally started moving around at eleven o'clock. Rose had picked up Alice at ten, and I wasn't ready to face the world just yet.

Showers usually made me feel completely better, however today that wasn't the case. It only made me feel worse and lazier. Cooking also had a calming affect on me, but as I made lunch for Charlie and me, I realized that the cooking tactic just wouldn't cut it today.

As long as I was feeling pretty lousy, I decided that looking good might make me feel better. Rose had always said that a great way to make you feel better about yourself was by dressing your best, even if you really had no one but yourself to impress. I thought that it was a good time to take her up on her offer. So I went straight to my closet and fished out my baby blue button down blouse and my light flare jeans. I pulled my bangs back and clipped them at the top of my head. I curled the rest of my hair and let it fall so it was touching my shoulders. I put a little eye liner on and looked in the mirror when I was all done beatifying myself up. But I still wasn't satisfied. So I quickly changed into something that was more casual; my blue V-neck T-shirt and dark straight legged jeans.

Before I knew it, it was going on two o'clock, and I knew that I had to head on over to the Cullen's. I had only been to the Cullen's a couple of times before. Once with Rose to pick up Emmett, and another time when Emmett had hosted the championship game after party at his place (even thought they didn't win).

I gathered up my books in my school bag and told Charlie that I was off to do my homework. He didn't hesitate to let me leave. Charlie was going to La Push to watch the game with the Blacks. Billy and Jacob Black were like family to Charlie and me. Jacob and I grew up together. We made mud pies while Charlie and Billy watched the game on TV, and I often enjoyed watching Jacob work on his bike in the garage. Jacob was my brother in many different ways. However when I started dating Mike, we only grew further and further apart. Maybe now that Mike and I were done, Jacob and I would understand each other again.

I got into my car and let it wheeze awake. I had stopped at the coffee shop on my way to the Cullen's to pick up some mental fuel. I had thought that a nice Cup of Jo would keep me alert and ready to work. But when I entered the store, I ran into Mrs. Newton. She looked at me and met my gaze before she turned away and completely ignored my presence. It hurt, bad. Me and Mrs. Newton had this bond, she was always so nice to me, and we always talked like she was my mother. After mine had ran out on me and Charlie, she always seemed to try to fill the void. And although it wasn't the same, it was nice to know that someone was there trying to keep me happy.

I picked up my French Vanilla and ran out the door as fast as I could, until I was in the safety of my own truck. I loved my truck. It was my sanctuary when the whole world outside was unfriendly to me. I don't know why, I might have been because Jacob had fixed it up for me, but then again, it might be because it was the only thing separating me from the outside.

I sat in my truck for five minutes, thinking about everything. How much I lost, and how much I could gain. I realized that I could not let it get to me, and that the best thing was to just move on from everything, and look forward and not back.

I glanced at the clock and seen that it was now ten after two. I put the truck in drive, and headed right for the Cullen's hidden driveway. Usually Rose would have to find it, knowing where it was better then me, but I knew it couldn't have been far. A good distraction like homework was a good one for me, especially if it occupied the rest of my afternoon.

The Cullen's house was just as I remembered it; big, white, classic, and elegant. It was right out of a story book, and in many ways it looked like a smaller version of the White House. Dr. Cullen kept the place neat and tidy. It was definitely showed with pride. Mrs. Cullen loved to garden. There were flowers all around the house, and her creativity showed in their presence.

I parked the truck in front of the house and climbed out of it slowly, looking at the gorgeous house as I did. I reached in the back of the truck and pulled out my school bag and headed up the Cullen's huge porch that covered the front of their home. As I reached up to ring the door bell, I wondered if Edward would be able to hear it inside the house from wherever he was inside. It was a big house, and I imagined you couldn't hear the door bell throughout the whole house.

I rang the beautifully sounding door bell and thought that it fit the Cullen's perfect life. It matched their appearance, and it fit the look of the house. After a few moments Edward opened the door looking indifferent. He had to have been somewhere close by to have heard the bell and to answer the door so quickly.

Edward was wearing black jeans and a black sweater. He had the sleeves pushed up to reveal his forearms, and gestured for me to come in. He led me into the dinning room, where he already had books spread out on the table. He sat in the chair at the end of the table, so I took the one two seats away from him. I started placing my books on the table around me like is had been, when he finally spoke breaking our silence.

"Yeah, umm...I started working on gathering information on the process of Mitoses last night. This morning I started putting it all together and its already printed out and revised." I was offended of course. Had he not thought that I was going to do a good job? I was just as good in that class as he was. Did he really doubt my work expertise? "So," I began then, "You already have the project already done pretty much." It wasn't a question, and I wanted to make that clear. "No, it's hardly complete. I wanted you to read it over before we decided what format to put it in. Then we need to put it together and figure out what it is exactly we are going to say, and what order we are going to present it in."

Edward had obviously thought of everything, so why did he even need me? Without another word, I leaned over the table and grabbed the work that he had written. It was good; really good. I didn't want to admit it, but what else could I do.

"What format do you want to do?" He asked not looking up from his work to speak to me directly. I had thought that it would be good to do it in a speech format, but now I was having second thoughts with his newly gathered information. "We could do a display. You know, to show images, because I am sure that if I have a hard time reading your over used big words then so will everyone else in the class," I said with small smile. Edward looked up at me now meeting my eyes with both his eyebrows raised.

"What's so hard about them?" He asked innocently offended. I rolled my eyes and gestured to his long paper. "I don't know, maybe it has something to do with their meanings being far beyond the whole classes mental dictionary capacity. I bet even Mr. Banner wouldn't have a clue in the world to what all these words mean." I teased with my head held high. I knew I was right after all.

He snatched the paper from my grasp then to read it to himself more thoroughly. After he had read it again, he looked at me and shrugged. "What's wrong with this? I personally thought that it was good." He was right; it was good, but way too good for our grade level. "I just think that we should keep it at our class mate's comprehension speed that's all." Edward chuckled and rolled his eyes at me. "Well I'm sorry Bella if this is beyond Newton's learning level, but we can't all rely on our football scholarships to get us through high school. Some of us use our brains every now and then." Edward looked smug as he harshly put down my ex-boyfriend. I had to admit that I was slightly offended. "Yeah well, I'm not dating Mike anymore. We broke up last night," I whispered quickly looking back to my work. The teasing had ceased, and I had to blink the tears away. Here I was again telling my story to Edward Cullen; someone I didn't even know.

We sat in silence before he broke the silence yet again. "I'm sorry, I was out of line." I forced a chuckle to hide my true emotion. "No it's alight, really. It was just time. Actually, you're the first person I've told, but the worlds going to find out eventually right?" I looked up and once again got caught into Edward's deep emerald eyes. "I think," he began, "a display would be good; get out point across."

The assignment was finished by four o'clock, and by then we were both tired. I was ecstatic to have it complete, and something told me that Edward was too. We packed up our books, rehearsed what we were going to say come Monday, and by the time we were finished I was positive that I knew everything that there was to know about mitoses.

"Are you hungry?" Edward asked, catching me by surprise. I simply shrugged, that seemed like a good gesture to me. "I could make something real quick if you'd like. I think Esme picked up that pizza making kit." I contemplated his offer, I was pretty hungry, and pizza did sound like a good reward; especially after an afternoon of hard work. Besides, did I really want to go home to an empty house? "Sure, pizza sounds great."

Edward led me into the kitchen where he started to bring out the pans and preheated their electric stove. I couldn't let him take all the credit for the food, and since he already took care of our homework, I stepped in to help him with our meal. I was a pretty good cook when I had to be; that's something that Alice never had on me.

I made my way to the fridge and started pulling out different food items that would be great on a pizza; olives, peppers, onions, pepperoni, cheese, tomato sauce, ham, and a pineapple. I stated slicing up the pineapple (the way I had learnt on _Steven and Chris_) while Edward watched as I made my way around his kitchen. "You really seem to know your way around a kitchen, even if it isn't one you've ever really been in," he commented as I started grating the cheese. I laughed at his comment, my mother always said that I was her own personal little chef and that wherever a kitchen was you would be able to find me. Whenever we made our stops over at the Black's, I was always in the kitchen preparing snacks for the men watching the game, and for me a Jacob outside.

"Yeah," I nodded to Edward as I made my way to slicing the pepperoni. "Ever since I was little I was always in a kitchen. Actually, Alice often jokes that I was conceived in a kitchen," I shook my head at that while Edward chuckled at me once again. He reached over my shoulder to steal a freshly cut pepperoni slice off the cutting board, and placed it in his mouth. I quickly dropped my knife and turned to lightly smack him on the shoulder. He froze and looked into my eyes shocked and confused.

"You never reach onto the cutting board while the knife is in full motion!" I scolded him. Edward burst out laughing then. I had never heard him laugh so loud before, it had a musical ring to it that made me smile. But I still had to shake my head at him, it was common sense. Edward finally stopped laughing and tried to complete a coherent sentence. "I'm sorry Bella; it's just that you looked so serious." He said between laughs. Well I was serious, if I had managed to accidentally chop off Edward's index finger; the doctor wasn't in the house.

I turned back to the cutting board and handed him the toppings so he could finish with the pizza and place it in the oven. I turned away from the stove and hopped up onto the counter to sit bedside where I had just been cutting. There were a few pieces of pineapple left, so I helped my self to the left over pieces. We timed the pizza to be done in twenty minutes, and Edward looked as uncomfortable as I did while waiting for the pizza to finish.

"So," I started, merely trying to make conversation, "Esme and Dr. Cullen took you in?" Edward nodded once and looked in the other direction. "Yeah, after my parents died, they were the only close family that I had. I did the whole foster parent thing but hated it. I realized then that living with Emmett was better then being with two people that I couldn't stand who had five other foster kids. They were nice, but it was just two crowded." I had heard that Edward was adopted, but it was then that I really seen how much it had hurt him. When he talked he looked sad, almost like a little lost boy.

"Esme and Carlisle are great though. I couldn't ask for two better people to be with," he replied after I hadn't said anything. I had only met Esme once, and I could tell that she was a picture perfect mother. She was always there when you needed her to be; caring, kind, loving and accepting, which was something that I always wanted in my mother, but rarely ever got.

Dr. Cullen was the picture perfect doctor and care giver. I had him as my doctor once when I sprained my ankle. Charlie and Mike had insisted that I go to the hospital even though I knew that it really wasn't necessary. He was careful with what he did, which showed a lot. He seemed like someone who could really be a great father figure; caring, intelligent, someone you would really want to look up to.

The timer on the stove broke both our train of thought. We both jumped at the sound of it. Edward reached for the stove handle at the same time I did with our hands grazing in the process. We locked eyes again briefly before I had the strength to look away. I stood by the counter where I had resided before. Edward continued to pull the pizza out of the stove and cut it in six even slices with the pizza cutter.

This wasn't awkward at all. I didn't know why I was making a big deal out of it. It was only Edward Cullen; Emmett's cousin from Chicago.

**EPOV**

I hadn't meant to tell Bella about my situation with the Carlisle and Esme, but I felt that I could really talk to her. She wasn't like the rest of the air heads at Forks High, and she wasn't close to me so I didn't have to worry about telling her too much where she could use it against me like Emmett would.

When the pizza was ready for us to eat, I reached for it; hoping that it would be giving me something to do rather then thinking what Bella was thinking about my situation. I hated not know what she was thinking. A part of me thought that she thought that I was weird like all her friends did. I really did want Bella to think of me like that, which was weird because I never ever cared about what anyone thought about me.

When I went to open the stove door Bella reached for it too. Our hands grazed and I couldn't help but look at her reaction. When we touched I felt an eclectic current pulse through my arm. Bella looked away then, embarrassed? I forced myself to continue serving the pizza.

I remembered our first conversation at the ball game, and now I was curious. "So Swan, what's your story? You said that it gets old. If it gets old why do you put up with it?" I asked, hoping that she would answer me honestly. I wanted to know what it was about that world that made them stay for so long.

Bella shrugged looking away from me while playing with her hair. "It's hard to explain," she whispered still not meeting my eyes. I handed her a coke and a slice of pizza. We were silent for quite a while she took little bites from her pizza. I was the complete opposite. I ate that thing so fast I couldn't control myself. Before I knew it I was reaching for another piece. I had to admit that when I first seen Bella throwing in different toppings all together I was questionable, but now I new never to judge her cooking again. This was the best pizza I had ever had.

"Bella this is great!" I exclaimed, and I really meant it. She laughed lightly and smiled. "Thanks, Mike never really liked it. I was upset the day my mom left and just mixed what I had in the fridge, it turned out to be good. But when I made it for Mike, well let's just say that he wasn't as appreciative as you are. It's something I usually make when I am upset..." she dragged on, contemplating to continue talking but decided other wise. "I was mad, sad, hurt and pissed when my mom left," she continued. "So when I made the pizza that night she left, it made me feel a whole lot better. I guess you can say this particular pizza really is my comfort food." She said with a light smile on her lips and shrugged it away indifferently.

Although it was clear with the tone she used to tell me earlier about her and Newton that she was more then relieved to no longer be in that relationship, it still hurt her. She made this pizza to help her get over it; as it clearly did so many other times before.

"Don't mind me asking, but how many times did you make this particular pizza when you had been dating Newton?" I tried lightening the mood a bit with a simple question, hoping that I didn't offend her. She looked up at the ceiling then, mentally calculating all the times in her head. She finally answered after a short little while, "Fifty-two. Maybe even more if you count the times I made it just to piss him off." She laughed loudly then. It seemed that I had lightened the mood some way, so I chuckled with her. I was surprised to see that I really loved her laugh. It was sweet, and I wanted to make sure that I would make her laugh again.

I started washing the dishes after we were done eating. Bella started cleaning up our mess from cooking, and when she was done she made her way over to sink to help with drying the dishes. "I don't know why I do it." She answered my question from before. "You asked me earlier why I put up with everything if it had gotten old. Well, I've been trying to remember why, and I really can't. There's no real answer to your question because I have no real answer. I can't stand it. It literally drives me mad. The way those girls talk about people they don't even know." She drifted off with a whisper and into thought as I waited for her to continue. "I just move along with it, but I don't think I will anymore. I think I will move along from it, leave it behind. I lost my hope awhile ago; when my mom left. That's when I lost myself. I just have to move on."

She was talking to herself now. I listened to her as she walked herself through her own epiphany and made realization with what she wanted now that she was free from Newton and the air heads. It seemed that the only thing keeping her there was him, and she looked glad to be out of it.

She shook her head and looked up at me and smiled lightly. It had been the first time I had really seen Bella Swan smile wholeheartedly. She looked beautiful, and no longer lost. Pervious smiles in biology class were with a forced effort; heavy and fake. This one however was real. She was glowing and I was glowing looking at her.

We finished the dishes shortly after that and Bella made her way to the dining room to grab her school bag and keys. I led her to the door and saw her out. "Okay, well glad we got it all completed. Now we can relax tomorrow," she simply stated as she turned to look at me in the doorway.

"Yeah, it would be good to get a good days rest. So, I'll see you Monday in biology." Bella smiled and nodded as she turned and headed down the stairs toward her truck. She stopped on the steps and turned to look at me. "Thanks for the talk Edward." Then with that, she waked to her old Chevy truck and drove down the drive way back to the world she hated so.

Emmett was home around nine o'clock that night. He explained how they won and Hale was hosting a party for celebration of them beating out their arch rivals. "Hey Ed, do you want to come and check it out? Jazz wanted me to ask you to come by. No idea why, but for some reason he really wants you to be there." I knew why Jazz wanted me there, I was pretty sure Alice was making and appearance, and he really needed a wing man.

"I don't know Emmett; I think I might pass on..." Esme cut my off then. "No you don't. Try having fun Edward, it won't be too bad. Besides, someone needs to make sure that Emmett doesn't break curfew for midnight." Esme winked at me. She never liked me staying home on the weekend. I think she thought that I spent most of my time feeling sorry for myself, but the truth was that I just hated the whole preppy thing.

The next thing I knew I was in the car with Emmett riding shot gun in his 4x4 Jeep. I told myself that I was going for Jazz and because Esme had forced me out of the house. But the truth was that I hoping that I would run into Bella. I wanted to see her succeed with her epiphany, but honestly I just wanted to see her and that smile again.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	5. Pretty Rave Girl

**Twilight and its Characters below to the talented SM**

_Here is chapter 5. Hopefully if I complete chapter 6 in time it will be on here buy the end of the weekend. _

All BPOV

_Happy Reading..._

_**Chapter 5: Pretty Rave Girl**_

**BPOV**

My afternoon with Edward at the Cullen's had been nice and distracting. I was able to just be myself more then I had in years. I found it easier to think around him. He made me more relaxed and free spirited. My epiphany this afternoon really opened up my eyes and showed me what I had to do next; move on a let it all go. I had to start over and rebuild.

Alice came home excited around seven thirty that evening. I was worried about what it was that she would end up dragging me into, but when she seen me her face immediately fell, and right away I knew Mike had spread the news to the public.

"Bella, why didn't you tell me?" Alice cried as she came and took a seat beside me on the couch. "I thought that we were like sisters. You know you can tell me anything right? I would have stayed and kept you company; we could have spent the day shopping. I didn't have to go to the game." I knew Alice would opt to stay home with me, but I couldn't let her waste her Saturday away here with me.

I did my best to force a smile avoiding her gaze. "Alice, really I'm fine. Besides I bet you had a really great time today with Jasper," I did my best to get Alice to change the topic, and it worked. She prattled on about her day and apparently, Rose was hosting a party for Emmett and the team, and Jasper had asked if she was going.

"Well what did you tell him?" I anxiously asked. Alice and Jasper's relationship was just like a teen soap opera. "I told him that I would only attend if you were going to go," she finally admitted looking away from my shocked expression. _Oh great._ Now I had to go. Alice finally looked over at me and explained further. "Look Bella, this was after I had heard about you and Mike and I wanted to be sure that you were okay before I said yeah and went running out to a party." Alice spoke so fast, almost as if she was trying to plead innocent in a trial.

As much as I really didn't want to go out to a party where my ex would most likely be, I decided that I would go for Alice's sake. I knew that she would never leave the house as long as she thought that I was home alone sulking. Truth be told, I wanted to be alone. Being alone is really comforting at times, especially when you have a lot on your mind.

"Alice, I think we should go get ready if we are planning on making it there by nine thirty." Alice squealed and hugged me. "I promise Bella," she said in my ear while she still had her little arms wrapped around my neck, "Tomorrow we will stay in and watch horror movies with people chopping other people up with chainsaws with a bucket of ice cream." I laughed wholeheartedly at Alice and her break up remedy.

Now although I was still completely full off the pizza from earlier, I made sure Alice had food in her stomach. Alice was a light weight, and there was no way that I was bringing a really drunk Alice home to a sleepy police chief.

After she ate what I had made her, Alice forcefully pulled me up the stairs and straight to my closet. I watched as she dug though my clothes shaking her head from time to time. "Bella," she sighed not looking at me, "You need something grand for tonight. It's your first night single again, so I am making sure that you look good. But how am I supposed to do that with nothing suitable in this closet." I shrugged. I really didn't care what I looked like. I wasn't on the market; well at least I wasn't voluntarily on the market.

"Alice, I don't think that's such a good idea. You should go get ready, just meet me down stairs in about an hour. I will be ready, and don't worry I am ninety nine percent sure that I can dress myself." With an angry huff, Alice stomped away from my closet and headed across the hall to her room. "Okay Bella, but just this one time." With the last word, Alice closed my door with a fast click and left me to get ready.

I reluctantly left the comfort of my bed and proceeded to my closet. I didn't feel like dressing to really impress anyone, but that didn't seem matter to Alice and her rules of fashion. All that mattered then was how I presented myself. But now I really didn't care.

Without giving it much thought at all, I reached in and pulled out my boot cut jeans, an orange tank top, and my black sweater with the zipper on the front. I usually only wore it around the house, but I had a feeling that I may need it for comfort tonight. I clipped my hair back and let the rest flow naturally down to my shoulders, and applied a little moose to it. I concluded that a little eye liner and some mascara never hurt anyone, so went ahead with the beauty products.

Alice on the other hand was a whole other story. She obviously didn't believe on keeping it simple, but then again why should she. She knew what she wanted and this was her way of getting it. She wore a green dress that rose just slightly above the knee accompanied with black pumps. She let her short hair flare out and wore the perfect amount of make up. No jewellery. Another one of Alice's many rules; bare neck attracts the eye.

When she seen me walking down the stairs, he face fell yet again. "That's not exactly what I had in mind," she mumbled mostly to herself. I knew that what Alice had in mind. Something with a bit more silk maybe? To keep with my comfortable theme, I stuck to my good old trusty runners, in case a run away break through was necessary.

Alice insisted that we take her new Porsche even though I protested. I was offended that she looked down her nose at my truck. But keeping in mood with the night I agreed because tonight was all about pleasing Alice, not about being stubborn.

Rose's parents were out of town, so we had the whole house to ourselves. When we pulled up the house was already filled with people and all lit up. I was surprised that the police hadn't been called in yet, but that was the upside to Rose's isolated home; no nosey complaining neighbours. The yard was filled with teens cheering on the team in celebration, and somewhere among them my ex was happily celebrating too.

Alice got out of the car and pulled me at her side all the way up the steps and inside the house. When we finally found Rose in the kitchen making drinks, she stopped what she was doing and embraced me into a quick hug. She apologized, and I just told her that I was okay, and that it was something that I would get over. She nodded and told me I looked great, even though I knew, just like Alice, she thought that I could do better.

I looked across the room and was immediately startled to see Edward Cullen standing in the living room by the stereo with Jasper. He had a drink in his hand and was laughing over what ever it was that they were talking about. I was surprised to see him even there. He never came to these things, and he had seemed really different. He _was_ different, and better then this, that much I knew. But when I seen his smile while taking with Jasper, I couldn't help but smile too. He was beautiful, a beauty I hadn't entirely seen before. Yes he was gorgeous, every girl at our school was aware of this obvious fact, but when he smiled, I felt as if it was though I was able to see deep into his soul.

Alice abruptly turned me to face her breaking my trance. "How do I look?" she asked, nervously adjusting at her hair. "Great Alice, go get him." I whispered to her with a quick wink. Alice took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before she headed into the living room where Jasper and Edward stood.

I grabbed my drink and went for a walk around the house where I met many apologetic stares that didn't make me feel any better. They all knew, but I shook it off. I wasn't going to let what they thought about me rule my life any longer. So I took my drink with me out to the front porch. The large group of teens was still on the front lawn, and many of them were randomly breaking out into cheer. There were also different pairs left and right making out on the front porch, just like any other Saturday night party. I had to look in a different direction every time I turned my head. It was both awkward and uncomfortable.

However, my heart betrayed me by sinking when I spotted Mike- with Jessica. He had her back against the pillar on the porch and his lips locked on hers. My immediate thought was how could he? Jessica? That was low. She was one of my closest friends, and here he was making out with her at my _best_ friend's house. I had to get out of there, get the image of his hands and lips on her out of my mind. I ran back into the house frantically searching for another way out, and ran for the back door and headed right for the swing in the back yard that was once my childhood sanctuary not so many years ago.

I couldn't breathe. It took several deep breaths till I finally had full control over myself. After much given thought, I realized that I shouldn't care. We weren't together, and I knew it wouldn't be to soon till another girl was wearing his letterman jacket. So why did I care? Why was I still hurting when he hurt me so many times before? Why did it matter all of a sudden?

After I was fully composed, I turned and stated to head back into the house what I was stopped but three drunken voices. "Hey!" one had called to me. I slowly turned to face the drunken freshman that emerged from the trees in the back yard. I realized that he didn't even attend out school; he was from McLane. I was several yards from the Hale house so even in my runners I wouldn't have made it. I was very clumsy, so even without nothing in my way, I would probably trip over my own two feet.

"Yo-your...Newton's girl." The drunken leader stammered. It wasn't a question and I wasn't giving him an answer. "Yeah, aren't you a pretty rave girl," the other male commented and laughed while he slurred. I wondered how they got into the party, but thought better of asking. Speaking wouldn't work in my benefit. "C-come here, let me get a look at ya sweetheart," the leader slurred again. I slowly stared to back up when he lunged forward toward me. I stumbled when he caught a hold of my sweater, but I was out of his drunken grasp when two strong hands took hold of my shoulders and started pulling me back towards the house.

I looked up searching for the face of the one who had saved me from the drunken intruders. Edward Cullen pulled me into his side and turned to face the three guys in front of him head on. "May I help you gentlemen?" He politely asked, even though I was pretty damn positive none of them deserved his common courtesy. "Aren't you that Masen boy?" The other boy jumped in, "Yeah! Cullen's cousin," he exclaimed. Edward nodded once. "Yes, I am. But that doesn't explain why the hell you are here, and why you are harassing Miss Swan." All three guys chuckled, but neither of them held a touch of humour.

"Well, you see we lost today, and we're looking for a place to go and blow off steam. I thought that this would be the best place to do it don't ya think?" Edward smiled and shook his head. "If I ever," he venomly whispered to the three in front of him, "See you harassing Miss Swan again, and if you ever step foot on the Hale's property without their permission, I promise you that you will lose more then just some stupid ball game." There was no longer any trace of a smile on Edward's face; not one crease. He was a hundred percent serious, scary serious. I had never seen him like this before, and I hoped I never would again.

He turned and pulled me toward the house and we walked together in silence. I was grateful beyond words, but I didn't want to speak. I couldn't, my mind wouldn't let me, and I wasn't in shock. I was just at a loss for words.

When we got inside I went to find Alice, but was surprised to see that she was not with Jasper. Alice was gliding from guy to guy in the room and flaunting herself at Jasper, man that girl could work. But when I chanced a glance at Jasper he looked completely and utterly annoyed. Alice was playing with his head, and if she didn't admit her feelings to him soon she just might loose him. I was damned if that was going to happen. I came to this stupid party for her and so far it had gone from bad to worse in a matter of minutes. I was sure as hell going to have a talk with her.

I angrily stomped over to where she was talking with Ben and pulled her aside. "Alice," I harshly whispered once we were alone. "We need to leave now. This was a bad idea, and if you are not going to spend the night talking with Jasper then what's the point of staying?" Alice looked amused by what I had said but she still seemed to be indifferent, not taking this seriously. "Bella, this is basic dating strategy. You make them want you, and the next thing you know they will come crawling in no time." Is that what she wanted, Jasper pining on his knees for her? I was outraged. I knew Jasper since we were kids and he deserved better. "Alice that's a nice dream, but it's both unrealistic and cruel!" I scolded her.

Alice was about to defend herself again before I raised both my hands to stop her. We both had a few to many drinks, and I didn't want them to turn into words that we would both regret come morning. "I'll find my own way home. Stay the night at here, you won't be able to drive tonight anyway, and by the looks of things neither will anyone else here, so this is your safest bet. See you in the morning." I left her standing in the corner alone and stormed off to give Rose Alice's car keys.

Rose had Emmett park Alice's car in the garage where it would be safe away from the party guests for the night. "Are you sure you don't want to stay the night Bella? There's room, and besides you live at least half an hour away." Rose was right, the walk was far, and my previous encounter that night didn't exactly make the walking home concept look too promising. But then again, being alone with Alice would keep me on edge and want to say something terrible, and I really just wanted to get back home to my bed that had looked so warm and inviting not to long ago.

"No it's okay Rose, I think I'll just walk. It's supposed to be a clear night out, so I should be safe." I lied to both her and myself. When it was clear out, that was usually when trouble was most likely to strike; I knew this because Charlie gave me the lecture on it every night he went into the office. Rose hesitantly let me leave her house.

On my walk home I drifted off into thought wondering where Mike and Jessica had wondered off to, but before I let myself get carried away I ended the thought and tried to focus my attention on something else. I didn't want to be worried about Mike Newton and his new fling of the night. I had to remember before I came along there were many other one nighters involved.

I was about ten minutes away from Rose's house when I seen bright headlights shine from behind me. I kept my head down and hood up, just hoping that it wasn't those drunken bastards from earlier that evening. As a reflex, I turned to look directly at the car that was driving toward me. It was a shiny Volvo.

I stopped in my tracks knowing that it was Edward. His silver Volvo was recognizable by the whole student body. He pulled up beside me and rolled down his window. "Hey Swan," he called while I looked at him with strained eyes through the side of my hood. "I'm on my way home, would you like a ride?" He gave me that crooked smile I often seen him use on teachers and other parental figures. I agreed without giving it a second thought.

I jumped in his car quickly escaping the cold. It was nice warm, but to modern for my taste. I preferred my own Chevy truck, but as long as it was a safe ride home, there was no way that I was going to deny Edward Cullen and the Shiny Volvo.

"After tonight's little encounter I thought that you might like a ride home." He was right, it wasn't the cold weather that worried me about walking; it was the thought about running into the three overly sized drunken footballers from McLane that had.

"Yeah, thanks by the way, I didn't get a chance to thank you earlier. I just had to get out of there." I wandered off mindlessly then, but quickly snapped myself back into the present. "I honestly have no idea what I would have done if you hadn't come out and found me standing there." Edward had now looked disturbed. "Did you not think to go back inside? Or call out for help? What were you doing outside by yourself anyway?" He was frustrated, I could tell, but he tried not to make it so obvious.

I simply shrugged. "I don't know, avoiding?" I answered both of his questions, but at the same time I answered my own unspoken question. "I was running. Running back to the world that now haunts me...and away from the world that now surrounds me." I found myself thinking aloud again. I had to stop doing that; it was too easy to speak my mind around him.

We were almost to my house then when I looked at the clock. It was only eleven; time surely felt like it had been going faster. "I really don't feel like going home, but everyone I know is at that stupid party," I whispered mostly to myself, unaware that Edward had been listening to me. "I can't do it. How do you do it?" I asked now, merely curious. "Um....Do what exactly?" Edward asked slowly; completely clueless. I guess that had been a question I hadn't spoken aloud. "Not care what anybody thinks, go on living your own life on your own terms," I explained. Edward smiled and looked at me, making me instantly smile back. "I just can. I dropped that whole thing a while back. I just realized, what's the point of trying to impress others if you don't impress yourself, you know?"

Edward Cullen got me. I don't know how, he just did. I nodded fully in agreement; I knew exactly what he had meant. "All my life," I began, "I have done everything for everyone else. All of the grades, good behaviour, the perfect boyfriend," I scoffed, "Was all to keep everyone else happy and satisfied; it was all part of the status quo. I did it because it was what I was _supposed _to do, not because I wanted to."

"So your relationship with Mike was a lie?" Edward had asked. I contemplated his question, because truth be told, it was something that I had asked myself multiple times before. "No," I shook my head repeatedly, "I cared for Mike, but it wasn't love. I didn't love Mike the way someone is supposed to love another person. Actually, I think I had been absent minded for the most part." I shrugged, because that seemed like a pretty good gesture that could go with my little comment. I didn't want to come off as the bad guy, but if I really wanted to be honest with myself I had to admit it. No more avoiding.

"So what's the problem then? If you know what went wrong and what needs to be done..." he trailed off, but I knew exactly what he was getting at. "I'm stuck in it all, and I can't seem to let myself let it go. It's safe and what I'm used to. It can't seem to give me up, or I can't seem to let it all let me go."

We were in front of my house before I realized it. Edward had turned off the car, and we just sat. I was embarrassed when I realized that he was more then likely waiting for me to get out of the car. "Than-" "Do you want to go somewhere? I think I have an idea to help you let go, if you're interested." Edward's velvet voice spoke slowly after he cut me off mid sentence.

I was confused about my own messed up situation, but when he offered to help I couldn't say no. More importantly I didn't want to say no. There was something about his presence that made me feel both comfortable and safe. "Sure," I agreed with a smile and was met with his in return.

He didn't tell me what it was that we were doing of where we were even going. He just drove in silence the whole time, while I continued to mentally sort out my life. We pulled into the dirt road leading up to the water tower and near the bay.

"Do you really think that looking at the water tower could possibly help me?" I asked, now doubting him for the first time. Edward chuckled and turned off the car's engine. "Yes Bella, because believe it or not, this just happens to be a real stress reliever."

I had no idea what he was getting at, but I knew that I had nothing to fear. It wasn't like earlier with the footballers, this was different.

Edward gestured to the latter heading up to the old Forks' water tower. I gaped at him. "Are you serious? This thing is like, forty years old?" I asked him, he had to be joking. Edward just chuckled and started climbing up ahead of me. "You think too much Bella, besides I wouldn't make you do it if I felt that I wasn't safe. Stop trying to live by rules Bella; this is the first step to getting out of that world that has you trapped. Don't you trust me Bella?" He had a point, well a few. But that was beside the point. "I don't think I know you well enough to trust you Mr. Cullen," I yelled at him from the ground; he was already almost at the top.

"Come on Bella, we both know that's not true, otherwise you wouldn't be here now," Edward shouted back. Oh he picked up on that had he? I knew very well that he didn't expect me to climb up, and he was testing me and seeing how far I would really go. All of a sudden I had an adrenaline rush; a rush to prove him wrong.

So up I went. I climbed the forty year old water tower all the way up to the top till I was standing beside Edward, clutching to rusty railing for dear life. Edward smiled looking pretty smug at the fact that he got Bella Swan on to water tower.

I was getting annoyed; I didn't see how this would help me get closer to moving on. "Okay," I hedged, "How is this helping me at all?" Edward shushed me and closed his eyes. "Wait for it," he explained. After a while he finally spoke again. "Do you see it?" He asked with his eyes still closed. We were in small town Forks on the water tower; I had no idea what it was that I was supposed to be exactly looking at. "What?" I finally asked. "The moon," he answered simply.

"Edward," I sighed, "There is nothing but complete cloud cover, I don't see anything..." I trailed off mid sentence when I seen it; the full moon peeking up at us through the clouds in the distance. "You can't see it from down below because you can't see in from underneath, you have to get high enough to see the true beauty of it. Above all the other normal and boring clouds we are used to seeing. The moon is special that way," he explained mindlessly in a weak whisper. I was right Edward was different, he seen the little things and rearranged them to make them beautiful and their own unique way.

"My dad used to say," he started up in a weak whisper again, "The bigger the man, the bigger the moon. But you know what Bella, it doesn't matter. No matter how big the world sees you, the moon will always be the same size." I was at a loss for words for the second time tonight. Edward seemed to have that affect on me.

However, what he said made sense to me. All of it; he was right. No matter what I did to impress people, it didn't change anything. I was still me and they were still them. I couldn't change who I was to please others, nothing would change to my benefit. My friends wouldn't drop the conceited preppy act, my father wouldn't be happy, and I would never be good enough for my mother to come home.

Edward crouched down to sit on the ledge, letting his legs dangle off the edge of the ledge. I mimicked his posture, and his eyes still remained closed. It was then that I wondered what it was that he was really thinking about. "What are you thinking Edward?" I asked. "I was...remembering the last time I was here actually." That caught my attention. It seemed that Edward had a sanctuary here too; far away from the world around him, well the world below him.

"Do you come here often?" I cautiously asked. Edward shook his head without opening his eyes. "No," he simply stated, but his answer sounded heavy. "I've only been here a few other times, usually when something is really bothering me, but it's the first time that...I remember most." He had a past, why hadn't I asked more about him. I was just as conceited as my friends; I didn't even think to ask to learn more about Edward.

"Why is that?" I tired to be discrete with my intentions, but I was very successful. Edward opened up his eyes and looked ahead, not really looking at anything; just looking. "I came here after we first moved here from Chicago. It was after my...my parents died. I was a mess. I hated Forks as soon as we arrived. It was too dark, I was away from my home, and I couldn't see the moon." Edward stopped talking and took another deep breath before he continued. "My mother and I would always look up at it as she would tell me different stories. So when there was no trace of the moon here, I couldn't take it. I felt really...alone." I felt his pain, I hadn't lost my mother the way he had, but she was still gone to me all the same.

Edward's shoulders loosened and he lightly smiled and looked at me sideways. "I had just had an argument with Carlisle about living here, I was distraught. So I ran, and ended up here. I just kept going and going till the next thing I knew I was sitting in this very spot. Alone, or at least I thought I did. The clouds cleared right over there," he pointed to the very spot where we could see the moon now. "That's when I knew that my mother was still with me, and that I wasn't alone. Then I looked over my shoulder, and in the moon light, I was able to clearly see the names of all the other people here written on the water tower. Other people who had felt alone and lost here in Forks, and it gave me hope."

I saw a glisten of life shine in Edward's eyes as he spoke about his mother and how she helped him survive here in the little isolated town. I got up and walked to read the side of the water tower. They were names of all the people who grew up in Forks and made a life for themselves. Julie Balen, Tara Thornton, William Fox, Dawson Barton and Melanie Heart were some names I had recognized. Tara had been my mother's friend growing up, and now she was a designer in California. All these people turned their life around, and just like Edward, I was given hope too.

I franticly searched looking down on the ground for something to make my mark on the water tower of hope too. When I spotted it; paint cans down below by the smaller propane tank. Edward watched as I quickly climbed down the tower, collected the paint can and climbed back up. When I got to the top, I found a spot that was right in the light of the moon and wrote my name with my index finger covered in deep red paint.

"There," I stated when I had completed, "Now I am going somewhere. I will be better, and I will be better then this town that holds me captive." I said with an optimistic smile. I turned to Edward and noticed that he wasn't. Now it was awkward. "Your turn," I said handing him the paint can and trying to quickly distract him. He quirked and eyebrow and looked at it oddly. "Come on, I'm not writing your name for you, that doesn't count." Edward laughed his musical laugh then that made me freeze. It was beautiful, just like ringing bells.

"Wow, Bella, I never thought that the police chief's daughter would be seen defying public property," he sarcastically commented. I grinned at him, proud that I had finally done something un-Bella like; something wild and unpredictable. "As long as you don't tell anyone then we is good Cullen," I teased. It was nice being with Edward, he didn't judge me like the rest of the world down below did. Up here it was just me, him, the moon and our hope.

He wrote his name beside mine and ginned back at me. "There, now five years from now someone will see this here and think of us, two Collage graduates starting to get a move on with their lives'." I grinned at him. He chuckled back at me and my excitement when the clouds took away our moonlight. We both looked in the direction of the clouds and where our moon had been. Edward sighed, "Okay, well I am sure that Chief Swan will be home soon, so I better get you home. And, I think I should go get Emmett because Esme won't be too pleased if he's not in by midnight." I reluctantly nodded, glowering at the clouds for ending my night.

Edward pulled up in front of my house fifteen minutes later. "Well, thanks...it was fun, other then the drunken idiots at the party," he chuckled before I continued. "I needed a night of distractions," then I quickly remembered the afternoon, and how he had distracted me then too. Had it only been eight hours ago? "And well, the whole day actually. Thanks again Edward. I'll see you in biology on Monday," I got out of his car and waved back at him. He waved and drove off back to the Hale's, and the world we both desperately wanted out of.

When I got home I headed right upstairs to my room, when I noticed that my hands were red from the paint. _Damn, _caught red handed. Luckily the chief wasn't home. I showered up and let the scent of my strawberry shampoo erase away the disgusting beer smell stuck in my nose.

The paint hadn't fully come off my hands, they were still a light shade of pink, but I was too tired to try to take it more off, besides the paint was evidence of my hope, which only made me grin at the thought of it.

I crawled in bed tired and worn out, and I was thankful that I had could sleep in the next day.

* * *

_So there is chapter 5, hopfully it got better here;_

_R&R_

_~DayDreamBeliever'93_

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	6. Pressure

**TWILIGHT AND ITS CHARACTERS BELONG TO SM**

_Here is chapter 6, sorry it took longer then expected, But it is my longest chapter, so that's something right?___

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Chapter 6: Pressure

**EPOV**

Saturday night had been very eventful. Halfway to the Hale residence, Emmett had insisted that we turn around and take my car. His reasoning was because; "I don't want you driving my Jeep home later," Emmett had a thing about that damn bulky piece of metal, so we ended up turning around and trading cars. When I first arrived at the party, I was disappointed to find that Bella had not yet arrived. So I helped myself to a drink; it was going to be a long night.

Jasper and I had talked about various topics; sports, Alice, news headlines, Alice, music, Alice, Emmett, Alice, Alice and well...Alice. It seemed that he had a really good day with her in McLane.

Then I saw her.

Bella was standing in the kitchen talking with Alice and Rose. She looked more beautiful then she had the earlier today and she really stood out in the crowd. I noticed that she was tenser compared to earlier and was desperately wanting to leave, and I wondered if her friends had even noticed the change to her appearance.

Alice was walking toward me and Jazz before I had any time to give him a warning. He froze instantly when she was standing at his side. "Alice, when did you get here?" he asked in a shaky yet casual tone. He really knew how to play it cool. She sweetly smiled and glanced at the clock, "Oh about ten minutes ago. I managed to get Bella out of the house for the night." So that was it. Bella wasn't here on her own will; she had been forcefully pulled out of the house – just like I had.

"Hey Edward," Alice nodded, finally acknowledging my presence. "Brandon," I smiled with a single nod, quickly looking away. Her and Jazz had entered into a meaningless conversation that I wasn't at all interested in, until I noticed that Alice was looking at him with squinted eyes. "Fine Mr. Hale, you want to watch me work, you got it," she spitted out at him. He had blown it; he had blown it in a matter of minutes. He had to have said something to really piss her off, and I didn't want to stand there and watch Jazz squirm as Alice paraded around all night in front of him.

Jazz shrugged his shoulders innocently at me. I rolled my eyes and walked back to the kitchen to get another drink. Rose was standing by the fridge when I reached into the fridge. "Wow, Cullen has a life," she sneered down at me from the other side of the refrigerator door. "Yeah, just because my life doesn't revolve around Rosalie Hale doesn't mean I don't have one," I smiled back at her before I took a sip out of my freshly opened can.

Hale chuckled, "Well that isn't much of a life now is it." Her smile quickly fell and she walked off to continue playing hostess. I shook my head at her pigheadedness; everyone in this room was full of themselves. I immediately felt crowded and congested. I needed to get out of there and feel free to breath.

That's when I stepped out the back door and onto the porch to see Bella in the back with the drunken footballers standing in front of her. I stormed through the yard, worrying about what could have happened if I hadn't stepped outside. I got to them in time as the leader of the three was reaching forward to pull her towards them. But thankfully I got to her first, and just like that, she was quickly safe at my side.

I talked down to those three assholes from McLane. Every one of them didn't deserve her, just like everyone inside didn't deserve her either. We walked in silence back to the house and I could feel her little fragile body shaking beside mine. As soon as we got inside she went running around the room, looking for Alice?

I went to find Jasper, I couldn't be there anymore. I found him standing by the stereo alone with clenched teeth watching Alice 'work'. "Hey, Jazz I think I am going to call it a night." Jazz nodded and looked back at me. "Are you going to take Emmett home with you?" I had to, it was Esme's rules. "I guess I will have to. Tell him that I will be back later then, around midnight," I told Jazz, he nodded and went back to watching Alice. He didn't have to do this, especially in his own home. "Jazz, you shouldn't have to watch this, it's your house, find something better to do," I tried to encourage him, but he still watched in pain and annoyance. "Yeah, well I'll see you Monday," I spoke slowly and walked out the door back to where my Volvo had been parked.

I was heading home when I seen a familiar figure walking on the lonely back dirt road. It had to be someone leaving the party, but at ten thirty? It was still early and the party was still in full motion. That's when I recognized Bella. She had her hood up and her head down, hiding from the world. When I offered her a ride, I was surprised that she had accepted. But then again with what happened that night, she would have been crazy not to accept.

"Yeah, thanks by the way, I didn't get a chance to thank you earlier. I just had to get out of there." She had thanked me for helping her earlier. I don't know why she felt the need to thank me, it was nothing. "I honestly have no idea what I would have done if you hadn't come out and found me standing there." That caught my attention. Had she not worried about what would have happened if they got to her before I did? "Did you not think to go back inside? Or call out for help? What were you doing outside by yourself anyway?" I asked trying to keep my voice calm and not as anxious as I actually was.

"I don't know, avoiding? I was running. Running back to the world that now haunts me...and away from the world that now surrounds me." I drove in silence, not exactly sure how to respond with what she had just told me. I was happy that she felt she could talk openly with me, and apart of me wondered was she only this open with me? No, she had many friends; she had to have been able to confide in someone else too.

"I really don't feel like going home, but everyone I know is at that stupid party," she thought to herself aloud. "I can't do it. How do you do it?" she asked me. Now I was confused, how did I do what? "Um....Do what exactly?" She smiled and shrugged, looking cuter then possible. "Not care what anybody thinks, go on living your own life on your own terms," she explained. I had smiled at her, because I was just like her once, until I had my own push in faith.

"I just can. I dropped that whole thing a while back. I just realized, what's the point of trying to impress others if you don't impress yourself, you know?" I answered her truthfully. It got easier once I accepted my past. She just needed to see that for herself.

She started telling me about her life and how lost she had become in it by trying to please everyone. How her relationship with Mike had been for the public and not fully for her. She mentioned that she had been stuck in the world that she basically didn't control; it controlled her.

That's when I knew she needed what I had needed. She needed to see the world in a different light. And she needed to see it soon. I was willing to show it all to her, to give her it all, to set her free and make her happy. She of all people deserved that.

As Bella turned to get out of my car, and I immediately panicked; I wasn't ready to end this conversation with her or my time with her. So, I stopped her mid-sentence. "Do you want to go somewhere? I think I have an idea for you to let go, if you're interested." I dragged on, apart of me worried that she would reject my offer and continue going on into her father's home. "Sure," she smiled back as she answered me in a soft voice. I couldn't help but greet her with my smile in return.

When we got to the water tower I had a heck of a time trying to get her to climb up to the top with me. What was she worried about, that I would throw her off the side? So when she mentioned that she didn't think that she trusted me enough, that kind of stung, but we both knew that if she hadn't trusted me, she wouldn't have got into my car half an hour ago.

When she was standing beside me I took notice to her tiny hands clutching the cold railing. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the wind blowing on my face, and blowing her sent with it. I basked in it and enjoyed the air that I was breathing in. Bella was getting restless, until the moon shined over the layer of dark grey clouds that occupied the sky over Forks.

Then the image of my first night here at the water tower invaded my mind. It was my first night here in the small town of Forks, and I had just had a rough day at the school and requested to Carlisle that we move back to Chicago. He refused and told me to give it a try. I was furious, frustrated, hurting, and confused all in one. I knew Carlisle was trying to do the best thing for his family, but I couldn't help but think that I wasn't apart of it. Esme had been my mother's sister, and they were close so she was more then happy to take me in, but I was always stubbornly thinking that Carlisle never wanted me here, so he forced us all to move to torture me. But that was just me being a troubled adolescent.

I remember yelling at him angrily shouting at the top of my lungs, saying hurtful things in the heat of the moment. However Carlisle never once raised his voice at me, which only angered me more. I took off running down the road. I ran right to the top of the water tower. It was here I finally accepted what had happened.

When Bella asked if I had come here often, I lied to her. I came here almost every day. It gave me a good piece of mind. I worked out my future here, worked out my thoughts and aspirations. All the while I was still as lost and confused as she was. But at the water tower everything made sense and it looked as if everything was right.

Bella surprised me when she climbed down and found a can of old paint. She wrote her name among all the others that were placed on the water tower. This was it; Bella's fist step toward something more, something pure. She was escaping and I had led her there.

The moon disappeared in the clouds bringing me back to reality. Bella had to get home before the chief arrived; I had to pick up Emmett before Esme called around. "Okay, well I am sure that Chief Swan will be back soon, so I better get you home. And, I think I should go get Emmett, Esme won't be too pleased if he's not in be midnight." I heavily sighed as I told her. She nodded seeming reluctant to leave the water tower as much as I was.

She thanked me for helping her tonight and for the ride. I just nodded, still thinking about how I had openly told her about my troubles. It wasn't planned, it just happened. When she left the car and started walking inside, I couldn't wait till Monday's biology class.

The party was still in full motion when I pulled into the Hale's driveway. Here and there I could see different people on the verge of passing out. I looked among them to see if Emmett was one of them but I didn't recognize him. He had to still be inside somewhere with Hale.

I parked the Volvo close enough so Emmett wouldn't have to stagger too far, lord knows I wasn't taking care of him. I had to walk around the room as if it was a maze; it was as if the party had gotten bigger. I saw Emmett sitting with Hale on the couch, high on something.

"Okay, time to go home Em," I said as I tried to help lift him off the couch. Hale sat there and watched me struggle with Emmett who was half my size. Tired of watching me, she sighed and helped me get him to the car. They said their good nights, and I took Emmett home.

Esme was up waiting for us, and didn't look too pleased with the condition her son was in. I avoided her angered expression and went straight to my room upstairs at the end of the hall. I lied on my bed as soon as I closed the door and was out of it as soon as my head it the pillow.

The next morning Emmett had a massive head-ache, and I gave him no sympathy. He deserved everything he got. Sunday had held no excitement for me. Esme spent the day in the garden out back by the pond, and Carlisle spent his in the study. Emmett nursed his hangover while I read trying to block out Emmett's loud moans of pain. "How come you aren't as sick as I am?" He asked breaking my connection to the book. Was he really dumb enough to ask that question? "Because Em; I only had one drink. I didn't even get to finish the second one I grabbed," I said rolling my eyes. Emmett just groaned again. "How is that possible? You were there the whole time I was, how could you only have had one beer?" He asked as he tightly shut his eyes trying to block out the light of the bright room.

"I wasn't there the whole time," I answered him mindlessly as I tried to get back into my book. "Where did you take off to?" He asked, confused. Damn, I had said too much. "No where I just went for a ride," he still didn't look convinced, but he didn't care enough to ask any further questions.

Later that night I was sketching in my room when Esme walked in. "Edward, for Thanksgiving Carlisle and I have been invited to the community dinner. As working members of the town we both have to go, but we were wondering if you wanted to join us. Emmett has already agreed and no one is forcing you to come, we will still be having a dinner here, but we would just love it if you were there," she spoke slowly looking at me the whole time assuring me that this was fully my decision. "Thanksgiving isn't for a month," I stated. Esme smiled kindly, "I know Edward, and I'm just was letting you know now, to give you time to think it over, well good night. See you in the morning," she kissed my head and left my room silently closing the door behind her. I had no idea why she thought that I would decide to go; I never went to community gatherings with the family. Emmett's game was the first in almost ever.

The next day I drove to school alone. Emmett hopped in with Hale and Jasper, so I was in no hurry to get to school. When I pulled in and parked in my regular parking spot, I noticed Bella walking on the sidewalk with Alice. She looked different, not as confident as she had looked Saturday night at the water tower.

I watched as she tagged along side with Alice and Hale with heavy footsteps, literally dragging herself into the building. I walked around my car and started heading toward the main doors when I noticed Newton on the other side of the brick wall with Jessica practically hooked to his hip. That damn hormonal bastard couldn't even wait a week.

Jasper pulled me aside before I made my way to second period's history class. "Okay," he began, "You need to talk to her for me. Find out if she's mad, or just being stubborn, because Alice is really stubborn," he quickly whispered looking over my shoulder to see if Alice was coming to class yet. "Jasper, this is pointless, why don't you just talk to her?" I ask, annoyed with both of them and their insecurities. "No, it doesn't work like that; trust me," he shook his head rapidly. "Here she comes, see you at lunch," he said before he cut the corner and hurried off to his next class.

I shook my head with a heavy sigh and walked off to take my seat beside Brandon.

_Stupid male code._

She was sitting in her seat beside mine, looking really pissed off. I didn't want to talk to a girl that was obviously mad as hell, but Jazz would be questioning me on it, so I had to. "Hey, Brandon," I cautiously greeted. She looked up at me with heavy eyes but forced a smile. "Cullen," she greeted back, I was relieved to know it wasn't me that she was particularly mad at.

"How did you enjoy the party Saturday night?" I asked thinking that jumping right into it would be best. She scoffed and looked at me over her shoulder, "Don't ask." Yep, she was still pissed from the other night. Ms. Stringer started the lesson on trench warfare in WWI, but I could see that Alice was still distracted on what ever she was thinking about.

I leaned over, hoping to get an honest response out of her. "Penny for your thoughts," I asked flipping a penny on the table top with a smile. She tried to smile, but I could see right through it. "Just Jasper," she mouthed back to me. "And...Bella," she added. I froze when I heard her name. It was a weird way to react, but I couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Had something bothered her on Sunday?

I had to know. "Why?" I whispered back to Alice while Ms. Stringer still talked in front of the class. Alice shrugged, "I don't know," Alice whispered back. I knew right then that I wasn't going to get anything out of Alice because Bella wouldn't tell her anything. She would tell me. Bella told me what was bothering her; she had on three occasional times already. At lunch I was going to get my answers.

**BPOV**

When I woke up Sunday morning, my hands were still pink. I grinned immediately when I thought about Edward Cullen and our water tower of hope away form all of Forks. We had a secret, and it was one that no one could take from us as long as we had pure hope.

Alice's Porsche was outside in the driveway when I looked out my window. Charlie's cruiser wasn't; he had already left of the morning shift. I crept across the hall to Alice's room to see if she was up yet. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before, which showed that she had just come in not to long ago. I headed straight for the shower, attempting to yet again wash off my hands (even thought I really didn't have the desire to).

After my shower, I headed to the kitchen and made breakfast and black coffee. After the way Alice looked last night, I knew that this would be what she was in need for. Just as I expected when she came stumbling down the stairs, she was in dire need of coffee. She had changed into sweats and a black t-shirt, but stilled looked rough.

"Morning Alice," I said as I watched her take a seat at Charlie's kitchen table. "Morning," she grumbled drowsily while she closed the curtains blocking out the morning sunlight. "When did you get in?" I asked, slightly raising my voice to feed her pounding head ache. "Not so loud," she hissed and continued, "I don't know, around six?" I felt my mouth fall to form a perfect 'O'. "Alice, what are you crazy, we do live with the police chief who is big on rules. Wait, did he see you?" She shook her head while it was resting on the table, "No," she muffled into her arms. I let out a big breath I didn't realize I was holding in. If Charlie had caught Alice, there would be major consequences for the both of us.

"Why didn't you just stay the night? I mean, it's not like Rose would have minded at all," I said, finally asking the obvious. "Because Jasper and I got into a little...discussion. Actually, it was more of argument then anything else. He thinks I'm playing him, and we were both drunk and said some things we shouldn't have, and then I went upstairs, angry, and fell asleep in Rose's room. I woke up this morning embarrassed and ran out as soon as I could. I blew it Bella," she cried and let her head fall onto her crossed arms on the table. I placed the coffee in front of her, which she gratefully accepted, but instantly placed her heavy head back on her arms. I wanted to tell Alice I told you so, but I felt really sympathetic towards her. Nobody deserves that, especially if all they wanted to do was impress that person.

I learnt that the hard way. No more being the people pleaser and the push over.

Me and Alice stayed home all day and watched movies in the living room – with the curtains closed. Alice picked her classic favourite horror flick,_ Child's Play,_ while I settled on a classic romance – which Alice fell asleep through – _Romeo and Juliet_ and I stilled cried at the end even though I already knew it by heart. Charlie came home later that evening, and I had already had the stir fry all ready and waiting for him. Alice didn't eat, and I didn't blame her.

After my nightly shower, I went to my room around ten, not tired enough to sleep, but bored enough to want to. So I turned on a CD and crawled in bed. I just lied there and thought. Thought about Mike, school, Jessica, Alice and Jasper. But most importantly I thought about Edward Cullen and his ability to provide me with what I couldn't provide myself with; hope and assurance. I found myself happy and relaxed with him, and I liked it.

I finally fell asleep – while thinking- around eleven that night. I was greeted with a dream, one that had been reoccurring since my mother had left. I awoke to a tear stained pillow around three in the morning. I laughed at myself for my reaction and shook it off, trying to return to sleep and hoping for the rest of the night to be dreamless. Instead I was faced with the same dream. As much as it hurt, I stuck it out and slept the rest of the night with tears escaping the corners of my eyes.

Monday morning my pillow was stained with tears, and my eyes had the crusty remains of tears. I got ready for school, taking my time today. Charlie had already left for work, and Alice was in the kitchen, looking much better then yesterday; better and more determined.

"Bella! How is this outfit for an 'in your face' kind of message?" she asked while she twirled and gave me the full over view. She froze and looked at me, worry filled her eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked looking directly into my eyes. Honestly nothing was wrong, I was just a too over emotional sleeper. "Nothing Alice, I'm fine. Really," I tried to assure her by speaking slowly. She didn't look convinced, but let it drop.

I drove to school in my truck. Alice insisted on tagging along with me. I wasn't sure if it was because she was worried about me, or just because she hadn't had any gas in the Porsche. I didn't bother asking, because if I knew Alice, she would have given a big speech that only needed one or two words, and asked me further if there had been anything that was really bothering me.

When I pulled into the school parking lot, the shiny silver Volvo was not yet parked in its regular spot, which to my surprise disappointed me. When I got out of the car, Rose waved me and Alice over. She was standing by the main doors with Emmett and Jasper. Alice's eyes shined, until they landed on Jasper; now they were venomous, hiding the true fail girl underneath.

"Um...Alice, what exactly did you and Jasper say to each other Saturday night?" I finally asked after I couldn't take the curiosity any longer. Alice shrugged and started walking up the sidewalk toward them; I had to sprint just to keep up with her little pixie legs. "Doesn't matter now," was all she said.

Japers looked nothing but apologetic, when he looked at Alice, but she completely ignored him. It was then that I realized what he had to have said to her. He had to have told her everything that I wanted to that night – and she didn't like it one bit.

I had already cleared my locker out of all things Mike, so I didn't have to come to school to that. I gathered up my English literacy books and made my way to class. Lauran came in behind me taking her seat in front of me. I was perfectly content with ignoring her for the whole class, but she didn't seem to have the same idea as me. She turned around to face me with a devious smile spread across her painted face. Too much makeup on a seventeen year old that had no business wearing makeup was never a good mix. She looked like an overworked clown that belonged on the downtown street corner after midnight.

"Sorry to hear about you and Mike," she said, but I knew Lauren enough to know that she was far from finished...or sorry. "Maybe now he could get a real girlfriend, one that deserves him," there it was, the real Lauran. "Yeah, maybe," I shot back in a monotone voice, not wanting to let the real emotion of pain show through, but I knew I wasn't fooling her.

Mrs. Burnett took over the English class as soon as the bell had rung. But my favourite class had already been ruined, courtesy of Lauran. All I could think about was her head meeting my textbook. That was something that I always desperately wanted to do, but could never bring myself to go through with.

After class, I made my way to Trig, praying that Jessica had not come in today. But the cards weren't working in my favour, she was here. She sat down in her seat beside me; no trace of guilt at all. I faced the board throughout the whole class. Every time I tried looking at her, all I saw was the image of Mike and his hands on her; everywhere. I was shocked to find that my nails had made an indent in the desk top – I was usually a non-violent person.

The bell had gone with a loud ring, snapping me out of my disturbing mental picture. When I bent over to gather my books in my school bag, Jessica was still sitting in her seat and looking at me. She took in a deep breath and smiled as she let it out. "Bella, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about you and Mike, I didn't get a chance to at the party," _because you were with my ex_, I viciously thought back. "You must be feeling really shitty right now, so...I was thinking that maybe you should come with us tonight to the diner, we were going to just hang out. Your friends are good to have right now," I mentally scoffed at her. My friends? My friends always had hidden agendas. "Sure," I reluctantly agreed. "Great," another devious smile, "We'll all be there tonight at six, just us girls." Jess got up and took off to her next class then, leaving me only two minutes to head to Spanish with my anal teacher, Ms. Pete, waiting in the wings.

Lunch arrived just in time. I was going mad in Spanish, and when I met up with Alice we both went straight to the lunch line, beating the early rush. I grabbed a salad and Ice Tea while Alice stuck with her deli sandwich. We ate in silence, both hiding something from one another. I couldn't take it any more.

"What happened at the party Alice?" I asked placing my fork in my now empty tray. She sighed, "He called me a player, not only a player but pretty much a whore. I'm not, it's just hard..." she sighed. I couldn't believe, Jasper was one of the nicest guys I knew, he would never say that about Alice, or any girl for that matter.

"Alice, he would never say that, I mean I know Jasper. He's a good guy." She stopped eating and looked up at me, "I thought so too, but I guess not," she grumbled. She was in need of a pick me up, and the diner started looking friendlier and friendlier. We could vent later on at home about how much Lauran or Jessica got on our nerves, but right now maybe they were exactly what we needed.

"We're going to the diner tonight. Jessica invited me, and even though I can't even look at her right now, a girl's night out is definitely called for," I firmly stated. Alice's lips pulled up, "Sure, not thinking about Jasper for a few hours could be good for me," she took a deep breath, forcing a smile. "Right, well I am going to grab a yogurt, want anything?" I asked, but she shook her head, still playing with the ends of her sandwich.

By the time I finally got to the front of the line I realized I had left the rest of my change in my locker, so I had to turn around back to my locker.I was walking around the corner when I heard them, the girls that were going to give me a girl's night; Jessica and Lauran.

"You invited her? Why Jess, she's going to bring that weird girl Alice. And besides, she broke up with Mike remember, why does she deserve your pity?" I listened intensely as Lauran argued at Jessica. Jessica began, "I had to, and I didn't know what else to say. I was going to bring up me and Mike hooking up, but I panicked. So I thought that doing it at the diner would be best. I don't like Bella anymore then you do, but I couldn't do it then, she looked too...heart broken." At least Jessica sounded human, but Lauran was still cruel and spiteful; I had no idea what I did to her to make her so spiteful towards me, but she was.

"Jess just man up and tell her the truth, haze her out or something – both her and her cousin. Just because you feel bad because her mother left, you shouldn't have to feel worse by sticking around. Get out like she did, besides, she's getting to clingy..." Lauran harshly whispered to Jess. "You're right, I should just get it over with," she responded in a low clear voice.

I couldn't listen anymore; I couldn't even concentrate. I wanted to tell them so many things then. Tell them what I really thought, but my legs weren't caught up with my mind. Instead I was running in the other direction; tears finally falling down my face, blurring my vision of the already blurred world around me. Visions of my dream from the night before entered my mind, only making their harmful words true and more real.

All the pressure I had felt finally came close enough to crash down on all of my built up hope. My mother leaving, my nightmares turning into reality, my reality becoming a dream, it was all backwards and I hated it. There was no hope, only the unrealistic dream of it.

I kept running in the other direction, when I suddenly crashed into a hard cold chest. I knew right away who it was; Edward. I froze and took a deep breath, breathing in his calming scent. Tears were still streaming down my cheeks as he pulled me into him, letting me cry. I was probably ruining his shirt, but he didn't seem to care. He just led me into a dark vacant classroom.

Once I was pretty sure I was all cried out, I took a big step away and headed straight to the window and stared at the rain hitting the window. After moments of nothing but silence, I finally turned to face him.

He was waiting for me patiently and silently as I wiped the last few drops that managed to escape the corners of my eyes. "I...I'm sorry about you...shirt," I stammered as I quickly tried to relieve myself. Edward just waved it off as if it wasn't important. His mouth opened to say something, but closed as fast as it had opened.

"What was that Bella?" He asked in a light whisper. "I thought that everything was going good," he continued. Everything was going good, but in that moment I just had to break. "I just felt the pressure of everything. I was at my breaking point," I sighed and turned away to face the window again. _Why did I always open up to him? _

"Thank you again. For getting me out of there, and away from the public's closely watching eye." Edward nodded and gave me a crooked smile, and I swear my heart skipped a beat. _Whoa._

"It was nothing Bella, really. I have to go find Jasper before he does something stupid," he said looking up at me with a slight smile. I smiled back, remembering Alice was probably waiting for me to get back with my desert. "Right, well I will see you in bio, with our display..." I trailed off. He got up off the desk he was sitting on and headed over to the door. "Don't let them get to you Bella, you're much better then that, much better then them," he told me in a kind voice that showed me he was one hundred percent sincere.

I left shortly after he did, knowing right then and there what it was that I had to do; I was going to go to the diner with my head held high, and let Jessica and Lauren have it. And I was going to do it all with a huge smug smile on my face, and I was going to do it on my own.

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_Finally! She is going to stand up to those annoying girls. After this chapter Edward and Bella will have more private moments, but they have to over come their world first. _

_Please Review for the story, all you other writers out there know how reviews are essential for inspiration and motivation. Because I am really starting to consider stopping this story all together due to lack of interest._

_So please Read & Review, oh and sorry about all the grammer errors. _

_~DayDreamBeliever'93_


	7. Never Going Back Again

**TWILIGHT AND ITS CHARACTERS BELONG TO SM**

_Here is Chapter 7. And let me say that a few scenes in this chapter are based on personal experiance._

_Enjoy! And Please Review after reading. Thank You!_

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_**Chapter 7: Never Going Back Again**_

**BPOV**

I headed back to the cafe, only to find Alice talking with Jasper at our table. It looked like they were trying to patch things up, so I didn't interfere. Instead I went to spend the rest of my lunch break in the library reading the great classics to help me escape my hectic life.

Biology came sooner then I had wanted it to. Presentation day went by slow, so when it was our turn to present, I made sure that we got through it fast enough so I could sit back down and sulk at our table.

Mike didn't look at me through out the whole class; which was absolutely fine by me. Even when Edward and I had to present, he still didn't meet my eyes. I knew about him and Jessica, so I didn't understand why he made it more awkward then it had to be, or already was.

Unlike Mike, however, Edward wouldn't stop looking at me. He kept giving me sideways glances at our table. It was as if he kept trying to make sure that I was really okay. Truthfully, I just wanted to forget that the whole thing had happened in the first place. I wanted to forget that Jessica and Lauren had ever gotten to me, and with Edward looking at me, it only made it harder to forget what had happened.

When class was out, I reached over to gather my books and get ready to head over to my least favourite class of the day; Gym. Edward was standing in front of class talking with Mr. Banner, when Mr. Banner motioned for me to join them. I joined them in the front, more then happy that I had a distraction from Gym class.

"Bella," Mr. Banner had said when I reached the front of the class, "I was just telling Edward here how much I really enjoyed your presentation, and how much effort you both put into it. It's a good thing that you two are lab partners, you two really work well together," he complimented us both with a smile. I just nodded and forced a smile back at Mr. Banner, suddenly really wanting to leave the classroom. "See you both tomorrow," Banner finally dismissed, letting us go on our own way.

I ran out of the class as fast as I could with Edward quick on my heels. "Bella, are you sure you're okay? You seemed a little off in bio," Edward asked while I stopped at my locker to drop off my books. "Yeah, thank you Edward I'm fine," I said stressing the word _fine. _He was very hard to assure, not nearly as easy as Alice. Once he was sure that he wasn't going to get another word on the topic out of me, he turned and headed to his last class of the day.

Gym was another disappointment. Jessica hadn't said one word to me the whole time, and Mike wouldn't come within ten feet of me. We had spent the last few years talking everyday in class about how Coach Clapp ran class and how we made fun of every student in the class that hadn't done something properly (even though I was one of them). After reminiscing about our old days in class, I realized that I didn't like who I was. I had just been as bad as Jessica and Lauren talking about everyone behind their backs, and I couldn't have been more proud of myself for cutting the rope loose.

After class, I rushed out of the gym, hoping that I wouldn't run into Mike and spare us both another awkward moment. I met Alice by my truck with a huge smile on her face, a version of her that I hadn't seen in a total of two days. The sight of Alice's bright smile made me smile back at her. She looked so happy; she was glowing.

"You're looking much better Alice," I pointed it out to her to let her know that I noticed. "Yeah, I talked with Jasper and we're good now," she said while grinning. I threw my bag in the back of the truck when I noticed that her smile had fallen. "But he still hasn't asked me out yet..." she trailed off. "I don't know Bella; I really don't think he likes me. Otherwise, he would have asked me already," she cried. "Alice that's nonsense, of course he likes you. If he didn't why would he have over reacted at the party Saturday night?" Alice still didn't look convinced, and was quiet the whole ride home.

When I got in from school, I completed all of my homework, even though some of it wasn't due for at least a couple of days. I had told Alice that I wasn't up for going to the diner after all, and decided that it would be best to stay in for the night. Alice agreed and helped me make dinner for Charlie. Alice started her homework after the dishes were washed and the house was clean. I on the other hand had something else in mind.

I left the house letting Charlie know that I was leaving for the night, and he said that he was heading over to La Push to watch ESPN classics with Billy. While I let my truck wheeze awake, I thought about what it was that I was going to say to Jessica and Lauren. I made up a big speech by the time I was pulling out of the driveway, and knew right then in there that it was now or never.

When I got to the diner it was filled with people, just as every night. Charlie's co-workers were there for an evening bite, the construction workers that were working on the bridge, and the girls from school.

Jessica and Lauran were sitting at the usual table in the corner of the room with other girls that attended our school, Rose being one of them. I had told Alice not to bother coming tonight because this had been something that I needed to do on my own, although I hadn't told her what it exactly was that I had intended on doing.

The girls looked up and smiled at me when I walked in the diner. Rose stared at me with grief and worry in her eyes. I couldn't read her expression, but I knew that what it said couldn't have been good. They all looked at me, not saying anything. It was then that I started questioning if I could even go through with it. Would I even be able to get out alive and unharmed?

Then I thought of Edward Cullen. He had helped me so much lately, he was my ticket out of this rut I was currently in; he was my safe harbour. When the image of him at the water tower and in the class room entered my mind all my insecurities about my mother and my nightmares faded away. I felt confident. _I could do this, _I bravely thought to myself as I headed toward the table of hungry dogs waiting for me.

I walked right up to their table in the corner of the room; shoulders squared and head held high. I plastered this fake smile on my face and stared them all in the eyes. Lauren raised both eyebrows, "Hello Bella, where's Alice?" she sarcastically asked. This was it; my moment to really give her everything I had, everything I was capable of. Then I decided, why bother? Why should I let Lauren and Jessica get the best of me, it wasn't right, and I wasn't going to stoop to their level.

"You know what Lauren? I don't deserve this," I told her in the strongest voice I possessed while throwing my arms up in the air like it didn't matter. "I don't deserve you and your back handed comments or your attitude toward my cousin. We are both better then that, and we are clearly both better then you," I shot back at her while I pointed my finger at her and her 'girls.'

I looked at the other girls sitting at the table who were watching our private but yet public encounter and smiled at them. "That goes for all of you too. If you like being treated like this then you are all as low as they come, as low as them. But if you have had enough with Lauren and Jessica talking about you behind your backs, then you can do better too," I told them slowly.

All the girls were speechless. I stood there for a while and then decided that my point got across. I shrugged my shoulders and turned to head toward the door. Lauren got up from her chair with a loud squeak against the floor, and I turned to face her, even though my head screamed at me to not even bother.

"Bella, you're done here. You're done in the diner, you're done at school, and you are done with us," she growled at me. I couldn't help but smile. No I didn't smile, I grinned. I finally had my freedom, and it felt good. "Wouldn't have it any other way," I smiled at them and turned back towards the door to make my exit, leaving Jessica and Lauren and my now old world far behind me.

As I got to my truck, I heard footsteps quickly approaching behind me on the wet cement. "It's about time, I was wondering when you were going to stand up for yourself," Rose said. I was shocked to hear her voice; she of all people loved all the popularity of it all.

"Rosalie, what are you doing out here?" I asked. Rose rolled her eyes, "Bells, your my best friend, and I was only sticking around as long as you were. I know I should have told you to man up to it before, but I thought that you liked it, so as long as you were in I was in too," she smiled at me. I shook my head and smiled in disbelief; I had thought the exact same thing but about her. "So, where to now?" she asked me with a light grin while crossing her arms against her chest. "Are you in the mood for a movie and a bucket of Chocolate Chip ice cream?" I asked tilting my head a small fraction to the side. "As long as I get to pick the flick," she answered with a grin.

When we got back to my place, we opted to watch the _Sex and the City_ marathon on TV over the movie. We all laughed at how we all wished we had our own Aiden while Rose argued that Emmett was good enough for her. I don't know about that though, Aiden is the perfect guy in my opinion.

Alice remained quiet the most of the night, probably still sulking over Jasper, and contemplating over the fact that he either liked her or didn't.

After the marathon was over, and the bucket of ice cream had been demolished, Rose called it a night and drove home in her new BMW. With the recession you think that the Hale's would conserve, but no, they went out and bought their daughter the most expensive car they could afford.

I loved Rose with everything I had in me that night. She had stuck by me, even when it had to have been really rough in that diner. She stood by my side, although I didn't need her to. I really appreciated it.

I had a shower and used up the last of my favourite strawberry shampoo, and made a mental note that I had to pick up more ASAP. Charlie was home shortly after Rose had called it a night. He talked about how he had a great time at Billy's and that Jacob wanted to see me again soon. I knew that it had been awhile since I had seen Jacob, which made me feel more then guilty, but now that I was out the of Forks' social circle, I knew that jumping back into La Push's wouldn't be such a hard thing to do.

I went to bed around eleven that night in a good mood, more eager then anything for a decent nights sleep. I fell asleep listening to the band _Bedouin Soundclash. _I drifted away to the music my mother used to play when she was in the garden, which wasn't a smart idea because that's what brought the nightmares on. The same dream I had had multiple times before; the ones that still caused me to wake up screaming.

I was sweating this time, and I couldn't understand why. I had a very productive day, I broke out of my rut and I still had Rosalie and Alice and my hope. So why had I woken up crying at two in the morning?

I tried to go back to sleep, but the fear of having that same dream again worried me. I was restless. I couldn't stop walking back and forth in my room, and that's when it hit me. I needed inspiration again and it wasn't coming easily at home. I needed my water tower of hope.

I quickly grabbed my sweater and keys to my truck. I snuck out of my room, careful not to make noise that was going to wake Charlie who was asleep downstairs and Alice across the hall. When I got to the door I was sure that no one was going to wake up so I opened and closed it as quietly as I could behind me and rushed down the walkway to my old Chevy truck.

When I got to the water tower it had been twenty after two, and it was as cold as it could have been in Alaska. I suddenly wished that I had changed out of my track pants. I didn't care though after awhile. I made my way up that water tower, track pants and all. When I got to the top, I had noticed that I was no longer clutching the railing for dear life. I trusted that old thing, and I trusted it with my life.

I sat down letting my legs hang off the edge and I close my eyes, letting the sweet wind hit my face. When I closed my eyes I didn't see my mother, I didn't see the girls at school, I didn't see my unhappy father sleeping at home in the basement, I didn't even see Alice and Jasper's troubled relationship. All I saw was me with a blank slate. But what surprised me most was what that image had transformed into. What was once me alone was now Edward Cullen and the moonlight; his moonlight.

"Bella?" I heard a velvety soft voice ask from beside me. I knew that voice, without opening my eyes, I knew right away who was standing beside me at the water tower. Edward. My eyes slowly fluttered open and I turned to face the guy who was standing beside me. "Edward," I smiled while my breath hitched. He had startled me I wasn't not going to admit it, but it still wasn't an excuse as to how my heart skipped a beat – or two. He was gorgeous that I had to admit, but I wasn't going to be like all the other girls at school who was infatuated with a guy that was clearly not on the market. Not that I wanted him to be, and not that I was.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, amused. I laughed, "I could ask you the same thing Mr. Cullen," he looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Yes you could Miss Swan, but that doesn't answer my question," he was right, and with all that he had done for me, he was at least entitled to that. "No it doesn't. Well, I'm here because I needed to think, and here seemed like a really good place to do it. Oh, and I can't sleep," I sighed. "So are you going to answer my question now Edward?" He nodded before finally speaking; "Yeah, I couldn't...sleep..." he trailed off. We both looked at each other and bust out laughing at the same time. I have no idea why that was funny, maybe it was because we were both tired, maybe because we both wanted to avoid that awkward silence.

"So Bella," he said my name so clearly, my heart skipped a beat for the second time that night. "How are you? After today's events I was wondering how you were doing..." he trailed off, probably rethinking about what it was he was going to say next. He thought of me, really? That thought pleased me more then it should.

"I'm great!" I exclaimed. "I had a real break through today. I told them all straight up what I thought about them and how they viewed everything, I got out and I did it all on my own," I grinned looking proudly up at him. "Wow, way to go Swan," he congratulated me. "But," he continued, "That doesn't explain why you're still here, and why you can't sleep. Still too excited from your adrenaline rush?" Edward had asked. I knew that he wasn't trying to pry it out of me, he was only curious about what it was that was really bothering me. And I was more then happy to answer him, "Yeah, no it's not the adrenaline," I assured him. He nodded and motioned for me to continue. "I have been having nightmares lately," I drifted off into thought.

"About what, mostly?" he asked furrowing his brows. I wasn't used to someone else other then Alice caring. Charlie never asked me, he would rather shake my hand then ask me about what was going on in my life, and Rose was always wrapped up in Emmett land to notice the little things in my appearance. Mike never talked about anything serious, the only time would have been when my mother left, and we weren't even dating then.

"Um...they're about...my mother. And the day she left, and what it was like before she left. It had gotten really bad between her and Charlie," I choked at the end; I hated repressing bad childhood memories. Edward looked into my eyes then, searching for what was there; what I was feeling. "It wasn't your fault," he whispered while shaking his head. I nodded, I knew that it wasn't my fault, but it still hurt all the same.

"I know that, I always knew that. But what hurt most was that she didn't take me with her, she didn't even offer. It was like as if...she didn't want me anymore," I sniffled looking away from Edward and his soft green eyes. "That's what bothered me most today at school. That's what Jess and Lauren had said, that I wasn't good enough for her just like I wasn't good enough for them, and all I could think was that they were absolutely right," I wiped away the tears with my sweater. I felt Edward's had on top of mine; he was comforting me.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "I always seem to say too much with you, I hate being someone else's burden," I told him. He shrugged it off like it was no big deal. "I don't mind Bella, really. Don't let them get to you. And as for your mother, well I don't know her, but with what I know about you it seems like she made a bad decision with leaving you behind, because you are great and your name is on that water tower," he motioned behind us to where my name was written in the old red paint, "so when you are famous for something big, they will all regret it. We make decisions we will all regret in high school, but what you said at the diner today isn't going to be one of yours," Edward spoke with such wisdom it made me smile because he held so much faith for me.

"Yeah well, till that day comes, I will forever be stuck in a dream. But here...it's different," I whispered trying not to break the silence. Edward tapped my hand twice before removing it from on top of mine. "I know what you mean," he responded, mimicking my whisper.

We had sat in silence, just listening to the wind and taking the moment in. It wasn't till I noticed that the early morning birds had started to sing. But what surprised me more was that I was half asleep. I was leaning against the water tower with Edward by my side in the same position, eyes closed and looking content in his slumber. His bronze hair was pointing off in different directions and his breathing was slow and even. He was an angel, and I caught myself smiling at his presence beside me. He looked so graceful and sweet sleeping beside me and his warm scent was intoxicating. He was beautiful.

I hesitantly looked at my watch, and was shocked to see that it was five in the morning. Charlie would be awake soon, and I would assume that the doctor would be up too. I nudged Edward with my shoulder and was a little heart broken to see his sleepy eyes reluctantly flutter open. I had felt bad for waking him up, but we both needed to get to our homes.

"Edward, you have to wake up," I told him as he started drifting off again. "What time is it? When did we fall asleep?" he asked sleepily. I had to mentally calculate that myself, "I think it's five, and around three I think we fell asleep, right after we got here. Do you need a ride?" I asked, suddenly realizing that the silver Volvo wasn't down below. "No, there's a trail out back over there that leads to my place. It doesn't take too long, only about fifteen minutes," he informed me. I still felt I should have given him a ride, but before I could insist, he was already climbing down the water tower.

I met him at the bottom. He was still whipping the sleep out of his eyes, which only made me feel worse for waking him up. "So I guess I will see you tomorrow in biology...well today technically," he said with a yawn. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," I nodded at Edward and headed back to my truck for my ten minute ride home.

When I pulled into my driveway the house was still pitch black. Charlie would be up soon, so I had to make it to my room for at least another hour of sleep, because even though I had slept beside an angel it hadn't had been very comfortable.

Once I was in my room and back lying in my bed, I couldn't get back to sleep. As much as I really wanted to, I just couldn't. So after Charlie was up and awake I waited in my room till he had left to work. I watched from my window as he pulled out of the driveway, and when he turned the corner, I went right for the shower. As long as I was up and school started in a couple of hours, it wouldn't have hurt to get ready.

After my shower I headed right to my room and got dressed. I wasn't planning on wearing anything fancy, just a regular pair of jeans and my black v-neck long sleeve shirt – something simple for a Tuesday.

Alice woke up half an hour after my extra early shower; by then it was seven o'clock. I started making breakfast while Alice got ready. She took a seat at the kitchen table, looking more beautiful then possible in her grey vest, light jeans and choker necklace. I often wondered why I could never look like her, but then quickly remembered that I wasn't supposed to care anymore, but I was still a girl.

Since I had enough time to make a good breakfast, I surprised Alice with waffles. When I had time I was able to make something grand in the morning. "Good sleep?" I asked Alice as she ate her waffles with such elegance and grace, more then anyone should with waffles. "Yeah, I think last night was something I needed. TV and ice cream – a girl's best friend," she laughed in between bites.

We took the Porsche to school; Alice had complained that my truck wasn't fast enough, but I knew the reason was partly due to the fact that my truck wasn't as attractive as hers. I hadn't protested, as much as I loved my truck, it was easier on gas when we took one car, and neither of us could afford gas everyday – especially since neither of us had jobs.

The parking lot was filled with the entire student body, just like every other day. Except today Jessica and Lauren and the other girls didn't even acknowledge me – which didn't bother me at all. Rose approached me and Alice as we got out of the car. She was alone, usually she had both Jasper and Emmett at her heels, but today she went solo.

"What, no Em today?" I asked her as I walked around the yellow car. "No," she sighed, exasperated. "He's' over there with Jazz and his cousin, Cullen Two." Rose said with an annoyed sigh. She never got along with Edward, I never understood why; he was always kind and easy to get along with, well in my case anyway.

Alice glanced in their direction and steered her eyes in the directly in front of us. I had never realized how much she really cared for him, but if he hadn't asked her out soon, well he was going to get a little advice from me.

At my locker, I was looking over what books I needed for first, when Angela Weber approached me. She had been one of the girls at the diner last night, and I always liked her. She wasn't like Jessica, and certainly never like Lauren.

"Hey Bella," she greeted me in a quite timid voice. "Hey Angela, what's up?" I asked with what I hoped was a welcoming smile. "I just wanted to tell you that I was inspired by you yesterday, and that I stand by you with your decision, I never liked either of them either," she told me with a slight smile. "Really?" she smiled nodding twice. "I would rather be your friend then theirs," she added. "Okay, well, want to walk to first? I have to stop by Alice's locker first, but that's just one detour," I explained.

"That's by Ben's locker isn't it?" She asked me. I had to think about that. I never really noticed before but I guess it had been. "Yeah, I guess it is...do you like him?" I asked Angela, and she blushed. Oh boy, I had another Alice situation on my hands. Hopefully she had more courage then Alice or Jasper.

First period went by quickly. We were given the assignment to read a fiction novel, something up to our grade level. I was given the novel _Happy Hour at Casa Dracula. _The book was due to be finished at the end of the month, and I couldn't wait to get started. Whenever I was given a book, I liked to keep and open mind, which allowed me to enjoy pretty much anything I read.

In Trig, we studied a new equation that I pretty much already knew how to do, and I really had no problem with, which was a surprise considering it was Trig. So halfway through the class, once I was done my work, I started reading the novel I was given in period one. It was about a Latina woman who meets a mysterious man who has a condition many consider to be known as a 'vampire' and in the mist of passion; she gets infected with one taste of his blood. The book captivated me immediately, and I couldn't stop reading. When the bell went for third period to begin, I hesitantly closed the book and headed to Spanish.

Ms. Pete was already in class, and writing the agenda for today's lesson on the board. As soon as I collapsed in my seat, I took out my book and continued reading. After the second bell had gone, I put it away and tried my hardest to pay attention to Spanish. I was bored out of my mind as soon as the class had started. Cautiously, I took out my book and started reading. The book was about a Latina woman, so I didn't think that it really mattered whether or not I was paying attention.

"Miss Swan," I heard a voice sternly say. I slowly ripped my gaze from my book to look directly at Ms. Pete who was looking rather angrily at me from her spot at the front of the class. "Put your book away right now, this is not the time to be reading," she raised her voice as she completed her sentence. "Okay, fine," I said obediently and placed the book down on the desk in front of me. Ms. Pete terrified anyone and everyone in the school, all the students hated her and her weird marking scheme, and even her co-workers had despised her.

Ms. Pete was a weird looking woman. She wore weird looking clothes daily, outfits from leopard printed pants to unflattering frumpy tops. She always had this annoying little black purse wrapped around her torso on a sliver chain that fit her egg like shape perfectly. Her short hair sat on her shoulders hanging in an unappealing fashion. One year they had her teach a fashion class, whosever bright idea that was, was beyond me. It was no wonder she had never been married, she was rude and never assisted with anything. She expected us to know it all; this is what had pissed off the students most.

I started to mindlessly play with the pages of my book, tempted to read but I didn't dare to upset her today – it seemed like an off day. I was daydreaming when her nasally sounding voice disturbed my dreaming. "What?" I asked mindlessly. "Miss Swan, I have already told you once about that book, now you are going to have to give it to me," she growled as she walked down the aisle to my seat. "Hand it over," she commanded holding her hand out. "I wasn't even reading it," I protested, aware that the whole class was watching our argument. "Doesn't matter, I don't want you interrupting my class," she spit back. "I'm not, you are by stopping to confront me," I scoffed.

"That's it, I have had enough with you, give me the book," she said as she reached over and violently tried to pull it out of my hands. She had no right to do that, and she knew it. She was just trying to push me over the edge. "No that's my book!" I shouted back and I pulled the book out of her grasp and pulled it back into my side. I had enough with her and her disrespect towards me and the other students. "That's it Miss Swan, go to the office." I couldn't believe this. "For reading a book?" I asked slowly, miffed. She didn't say another word to me; she just pointed to the door and directed me out of class. "Okay, fine," I said angrily as I flung my bag around my shoulders and left the class room in a huff.

Once I was out of the class and down the hall, I stopped and played back what just happened in my head. I was shocked with myself. I was usually a very nonviolent person. But Ms. Pete took it too far with me, and I couldn't take it anymore.

So I went to the office. I sat there in the secretary's office, waiting to meet with the principal. "The Principal is not in today, you are going to have to wait for the VP to be done his meeting," she had told me. So there I was, waiting for the verdict. When I thought about it, it was my first time in the office –the first time in my life. The secretary new this fact too, because when she seem me walk in she said with a shocked tone, "Bella, what are you doing here?" I just shrugged at her, "I was 'reading' a book," I simply told her, using air quotes around 'reading.' She just raised her eyebrows and went to look for the VP.

After I sat in the office for twenty minutes I decided that I wasn't going to meet with the VP any time soon and simply walked out of the office. Not like they would miss me. I headed toward my locker to gather my things, suddenly wishing we had taken my truck to school. Lunch started in half an hour, and I was in no hurry to go back to class right away.

So I went to the court yard. I took a table and sat down under the large maple tree (one of many in Forks). When I heard a voice behind me, "Bella?" this was a voice I knew to well, one that maybe I shouldn't have been to familiar with. I slowly turned to see the person standing behind me. "Edward?" I asked, just as shocked as he was to see me. "What are you doing out here, don't you have class?" I asked, suddenly remembering that curiosity killed the cat, but a cat had nine lives right?

"I do," he said with a nod, "but it's healthy to ditch class every now and then," he said with the crooked smile that I couldn't get enough of. "So what about you convict?" he asked me, that crooked smile still in place. "Well," I began, "ever have Ms. Pete?" I asked. "Ah," was all he said. "Yeah," I responded back with a smile. He hadn't needed to ask what my crime was; the whole student body knew how Ms. Pete could be.

He stood there looking at me awkwardly so I motioned for him to take the seat beside me. The damp seat wasn't too bad; the mist from the morning had lit up a little. "So what's that?" I asked pointing like a little kid at what was obviously a sketchbook. "Ah...well this is my sketchbook for my art class. Our latest assignment was to draw still life, but mine wasn't going so well. So I took the last little while to complete it for fifth," he explained. _So was that why he had skipped third? _I wondered to myself.

"May I see?" I asked. I knew that some artists were very personal with their art, but if it was for his class then it wouldn't have hurt, right? "I don't know anything about art so I can't really criticize," I said with a shrug. Edward smiled and gave in, handing me his sketchbook.

His still life was beautiful. I had expected to see a few lines on paper of fruit or a vase of flowers, but what Edward had done was more then a masterpiece. The fruit he had drawn was more then just fruit in his picture, it was alive. His work resembled one of a professional. I should have known this was his talent.

"Wow, Edward. Like I said I don't know art, but this is beautiful," I gushed as I looked up at him from his sketchbook. "Thanks," he simply said looking away, was he embarrassed? "Really it's great," I said as I handed him back his works of art. I hadn't dared to look at the rest, thinking that it was something he would show me more of when he was ready.

"Yeah, well it's not something I will major in. It's just a hobby," he explained. He had to have been able to guess that that was what I was thinking.

"Do you want to go eat lunch at the diner or something?" I asked, instantly wishing I hadn't been so blunt. Why would he say yes to me if I knew he had turned down so many other capable girls before me? "Sure," he agreed. I watched as his lips twitched at the sides, he was holding his smile. "We can take my car," he offered. "I was getting tired of cafe food myself," I nodded in agreement, "and Jasper moping about Alice," he added with a smile. I laughed, that was another thing we could both agree on.

* * *

_There is Chapter 7, and I think it's my longest Chapter. _

_Let me just say that Ms. Pete is based on a real character, and shes a real pain, and that incident I told in this chapter is based on true events. _

_Read && Review! Hope to update soon! _

_Reviews = Quicker Update!_


	8. Let the Flames Begin

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS**

_Okay, first of all I am sorry for the extremely late update, but my life has kinda slowed down again (FINALLY), but not for long because I will be going to attend an NHL game this weekend for my older brother's birthday, and it's Easter so I will be busy with the Family. So I thought that I better get this chapter done for those of you who are reading my story. I must admit that I don't really think that it's the best chapter (for my writing anyway). And I am also so very sorry for all the grammer problems that you will find as you read Chapter 8. So enjoy and it may be the last chapter for a couple of weeks. _

_Happy Readings...___

* * *

Chapter 8: Let the Flames Begin

**EPOV**

When Bella ran into me on Monday, I'm not going to deny that I was startled, but more importantly I was more then outraged at the state she was in. She was crying, no, she was balling her eyes out. My immediate reaction was to go out and find who ever it was that made her break down in the first place, but I knew that would only make her uncomfortable, so I rethought it. Instead I took her away from the world that she despised, and gave her the space that she desperately desired.

She kept to herself, and I didn't push her. I knew that she just needed me there, needed me to be there and needed me to keep her calm. I didn't want to leave her in that room alone, but Jazz was still waiting for me, and I needed to get back before anyone noticed that we were in there alone.

When I made it back to the cafe, Jazz was talking with Alice; which I thought was about damn time. I let them have their own space too. So I went back to my regular routine, sitting at my table sketching Still Life for my art class.

Biology came and went. I mostly presented the assignment, Bella put her input in every now and then –she knew this stuff as much as I did – but I knew it was hard for her to talk without her voice breaking every so often, so I took over most of the oral presenting.

Throughout the whole class, I couldn't help but look at her and wonder if she was really okay in there. She looked fine on the outside, but I knew better. It was tearing her up on the inside, and I just wanted to reach out and hold her and get her talk to me, just like she had at the water tower.

That was the last time I seen her at school. I didn't see her at the end of the day, but I knew that she would most likely want to get out of there ASAP. When I got home that night, Emmett had Hale over, which bothered me to no end. Yes, Em was happy with Hale, but I couldn't listen to them ogle and paw at each other all night.

So I spent most of that evening in my room, listening to music. Esme came in and made us all dinner. Carlisle was home early, so Esme had wanted to do something extra special for him. Em had Hale stay for dinner, so I had to watch them eye each other while I ate my dinner too. Esme and Carlisle didn't seem to notice; their own work day had them ranting to each other. And there I was – alone. I had no one to share at that table, no one to watch TV with, and no one to talk or share my day with.

That's when I started thinking about Bella. Seeing her today more vulnerable then I had ever seen her was heartbreaking. She was so frail, it had bothered me that I couldn't do anything to ease her pain at all. I wanted to be there for her more then I already had been, but if I had gotten to close it would have only been awkward and weird; the last thing I wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

After I had excused myself from the dinner table - and after getting a sympathetic glance from Esme - I went straight to my room to start my homework. Hale had left the table the same time I had, saying that she had to meet up with the girls at the diner. Emmett didn't look too happy at her sudden departure, but didn't seem to voice his opinions either. So, he kissed her by the door, and she sped down the driveway in her new lustrous BMW.

Literature and history were waiting for me up in my room. But I couldn't concentrate on WWI and Shakespeare's _Sonnet 29. _My mind was definitely somewhere else. Finally, after several hours of rereading the poem and going over the events of Vimy Ridge, I was all done my homework. But I was still restless. So I went down to the grand room and started playing the piano that Esme had insisted that Carlisle buy for me. It had been awhile since I last played. Esme loved hearing my personal compositions, and I knew that she had considered it as my form of therapy after my parent's accident. My mother Elizabeth Masen, and Esme's sister, played for a local country club in Chicago. She was their form of entertainment, and she would often play for my father and I on Sundays just as the sun was setting in the bright wide open windows of our old Chicago home. She had loved her job, and I knew how much Esme had loved hearing her play. Part of me thought that not only did Esme love hearing me play, but I it had also reminded her of my mother and her grand white piano back in Chicago.

The last time I had played the piano was the first night we had it, and that was the first month that we had moved to Forks. Esme always encouraged me to play, but never forced me. Carlisle never seemed to worry about how he had spent money on something that I had never used; he just let me be and accepted that I would turn to it when I was ready.

But there was a certain pull that was pulling me to the grand piano that night. The moment my fingers touched the keys I started to play a tune that was unrecognizable to me. It was new and different and the sound started to fill the entire house as the playing continued. Esme and Carlisle came into the room to watch me, both in amazement and awe. But Esme smiled that kind and touching smile as I played, and it lingered there the entire time the song went on. I hadn't stopped playing as they entered the room.

When they left, and I continued to play, I realized that this was the song that my mother had played for Esme on her birthday. The last birthday Esme had that my mother was around for. It had been Esme's favourite. It was no wonder why she was smiling so brightly when she heard it.

I stopped abruptly and backed away from the piano. My breathing quickening as I stared at the piano that wasn't my mothers, but was exactly identical. I couldn't be there. I ran out of the house and headed straight for the backyard. I sat in the yard by Esme's garden and stared up at the clouds. Then next time I glanced at my watch, it was midnight.

When I got inside, Em was fast asleep on the couch and Esme and Carlisle were already in bed resting up for another hectic day at work. As much as I really didn't want to wake Em up in his sleepy and soon to be grouchy state, if I didn't he would have been really sore and still grouchy the next day. It was one of those damned if you do and damned if you don't scenarios for me. So I opted to waking Em up and taking on the angry sleeping giant grizzly.

"Em," I whispered beside his head, but not close enough that he would reach me if he tried to get a good swipe at my head. Just as I had thought, he threw his giant fist toward my head. "What?" the angry grizzly grumbled angrily up at me. "Go upstairs!" I demanded. He was already up, might as well respond the same way with him. "Hey," he began "Did Rose call at all?" he asked with the sleep still thick in his voice. "I don't know, Em. Just go up stairs and call her tomorrow morning," I suggested. But Emmett ignored me and headed upstairs, with the phone in his hand.

I sat on the couch trying to fall asleep while watching and old movie on TV. It wasn't till later that I noticed that it was the original _King Kong._ My father and I watched this at the old Drive-In when they played classic movies on Thursday nights. That was it, I couldn't sit here anymore.

I stormed out of the house and started walking down the path I had first discovered when we first moved to the little isolated community of Forks. When I approached the water tower I was surprised to see an old Chevy truck parked at the gate. It resembled Bella's but many other trucks could have looked the same in the dark. But Bella's truck was easy to be seen, so this was something that I was positive on. But why would she have been here at...I had to look at me watch to really confirm the time -it was two thirty in the morning. Why would Bella be here, alone, at two thirty in the morning on a Monday night?

As I climbed the water tower as stealth as I was capable of; being careful not to scare or startle her. She was sitting in the most normal position with the most content and satisfying look on her face. But for someone to be at the water tower alone in the middle of the night, something had to be wrong. So why was I here?

"Bella?" I finally asked. I tried to keep my voice calm and at a comforting tone. I watched as her big brown eyes, shining in the moonlight, turned to look at me. Her small soft lips turned and pulled up into a grin. "Edward," she said with a sigh sounding relieved. "What are you doing here?" I finally asked after we stayed there staring at each other, making the moment filled with – not and awkward, but more comfortable one – silence.

Bella lightly laughed, filling up the water tower with the sound of it. "I could ask you the same thing Mr. Cullen," she smiled, looking really light happy and carefree. I was confused. This had been a different Bella then what I had seen earlier today. I raised my eye brows at her, trying to figure her out. "Yes you could Miss Swan, but that doesn't answer my question," I pressed smirking right back. "No, it doesn't," she admitted, finally giving in, "Well, I'm here because I needed to think, and here seemed like a really good place to do it. Oh, and I can't sleep," she stated with a shrug, as if the last part was obvious. "So are you going to answer my question now Edward?" she asked, looking hopeful.

I nodded, why not. But then I had to think about it. Why was I here? I didn't really know. This was just something I did when there was nothing else to do. So my lame answer to her was, "Yeah, I couldn't...sleep..." I trailed off making it sound more like a question while trying to think of some witty comment to go with it. But when nothing came to me, we both laughed. I had no reason why it was funny, but we both laughed anyway.

After she caught her breath, and the silence started to fill the gap between us, I broke it by saying, "So Bella, how are you? After today's events I was wondering how you were doing..." I trailed off while the mental image of Bella sad and frail and trembling while tears streamed violently down her face entered my mind.

To my surprise she exclaimed, "I'm great!" Bella told me how she had finally stood up to Jessica and her 'posse' of cheerleader airheads. I congratulated her, because truthfully, I couldn't have been more proud of her. But why was she here at the water tower? She had said that she needed to think, but since she had stood up to the girls at school, it couldn't have been that.

I asked her what was bothering her, in the lightest tone I could manage without sounding too concerned. "I have been having nightmares lately," was what she told me. But what surprised me most was how Bella simply shrugged it off like it was no big deal. I was still trying to figure her out.

"About what...mostly?" I asked. "Um...they're about...my mother. And the day she left, and what it was like before she left. It had gotten really bad between her and Charlie," she choked and hesitated to continue. I wanted to let her know that I was there for her, so I looked her in the eyes and confronted her the best way I could. "It's not your fault," I simply stated the same thing every child of divorcee parents were told. I was told the same thing when my parents died, and it hadn't helped at all. But right then and there, it was the only thing I could really think to say.

"I know that, I always knew that. But what hurt most was that she didn't take me with her, she didn't even offer. It was like as if...she didn't want me anymore," she whispered and took a deep breath before she continued. "That's what bothered me most today at school. That's what Jess and Lauren had said, that I wasn't good enough for her just like I wasn't good enough for them, and all I could think was that they were absolutely right," Bella was crying then. It was the second time I had seen her cry today, but this time was different; controlled. I knew the reason, I understood, and I wanted nothing more then to make it all go away and just disappear.

I placed my hand on top of hers, soft, gentle, and as comforting as I was capable of being at that moment. "I'm sorry," she apologized. I furrowed my brows, wondering what it was exactly that she should be apologizing for. "I always seem to say too much with you, I hate being someone else's burden," so that was it. I shrugged it off, mocking her gesture. It was honestly no big deal, if anything _I_ wanted to be her shoulder to cry on.

"I don't mind Bella, really. Don't let them get to you. And as for your mother, well I don't know her, but with what I know about you it seems like she made a bad decision with leaving you behind, because you are great and your name is on that water tower," I told her, meaning every damn word I said. "So when you are famous for something big, they will all regret it. We make decisions we will all regret in high school, but what you said at the diner today isn't going to be one of yours," I told her wholeheartedly, thinking about the drastic change that she had already made.

"Yeah well, till that day comes, I will forever be stuck in a dream. But here...it's different," she responded with a light weak smile. I realized that my hand was still on hers, so I tapped it twice and removed it while saying, "I know what you mean," in a whisper, because I really did.

I can't remember when I fell asleep that night. But I know that it had to have been shortly after our discussion. I remember listening to her light breathing getting fainter and fainter as she drifted off into sleep. I fell into a deep slumber then, and didn't mind that it was in the end of October and I was sleeping outside. Her presence alone comforted me and made me feel at ease.

I felt Bella's shoulder nudge mine, and as much as I really didn't want to open my eyes and realize that I would have to leave, her scent greeting me awake was more then welcoming. So I reluctantly opened my eyes and looked into the big brown eyes that were shining in the remaining moonlight.

I closed my eyes and took another whiff of her scent and the early morning scent. "Edward, you have to wake up," she groaned as I slowly started to get up and stretch. She had asked if I wanted a ride home, but really, the trail wouldn't take too long...and the early morning walk would do me good. Carlisle would be up in a half an hour and would be leaving shortly after that so I had to get a move on. I took one last meaningful glance at Bella and the water tower, and started to climb down before she would insist that she drive me home.

We said our good byes at the bottom or the tower, and I sheepishly headed in the direction home. When I got to the house, to my relief, Carlisle wasn't up yet. I snuck up to my room and flopped lazily onto my bed, hoping to get at least another two hour sleep in.

Two hours later I was awoken by Emmett and his big pounding fist on the outside of my door, leaving an annoying ringing noise in my ears. "Ed, you up yet?" He shouted from the other side. I groaned loud enough for him to hear. "I am now!" I shouted back. Just then Emmett came busting in the room with a plate of waffles all lathered in maple syrup. "Esme made breakfast," he informed me with a big teasing smile as he shoved a little more food then necessary into his mouth.

"Why do you call her Esme?" I asked, annoyed with the waffles being shoved into my face. "She's your mom," I reminded him while swiftly getting up off the bed, only making my head rush more then it already was. "I know," Em simply said with a shrug, "I only call her that because I thought that it was more comfortable around you," he reluctantly admitted with a sluggish smile. We stared at each other for only a moment before we both lunged for the door and raced downstairs to beat each other to the fresh batch of hot waffles.

On our way to school, Emmett was quiet. I wasn't sure if it was because he lost the argument in taking my car instead of the Jeep, or because of something else. I figured it had something to do with Rose. Finally when I had enough I asked, "Anything going on in there Em, not that anything ever does." Emmett completely ignored my back handed insult and came right out to tell me what was actually on his mind. It had to have been really bothering him for him to tell me straight up.

"Rose blew me off last night for the _girls,_" he told me, dragging the word 'girls'. "She was over at Bella's house last night watching some greasy show about girls living it up in New York City," I assumed he had meant _Sex and the City_, Carlisle had bought Esme the entire series on DVD for her last Christmas. It was pretty 'greasy' as Emmett put it, but Esme liked it, and apparently so did Hale. This new information really seemed to bother Emmett.

"What's wrong with that Em? It's not likes she's never ever with you, if you hadn't noticed she is always at the house, _all _the time," I told him while rolling my eyes while emphasizing 'all'. Emmett just looked out the window and completely ignored me. When we got to school, he just ignored Hale too. But she didn't seem to have a care in the world; in fact she didn't even notice at all.

Jasper came and joined me and Emmett when we got to the school. Hale walked off in the other direction toward Alice and Bella. Bella looked well rested and happy standing there talking with Alice and Hale. This made me smile; Bella's smile was pure and filled with emotion in that moment. She looked as though a big cloud had been lifted off her shoulders, and I knew that one really had.

In first period, Literature went by in a flash. I had all my work done and was ahead of the class. So from my seat at the back of the room, I started to sketch. This wasn't for my art class however, this was something more personal. I knew that Ms. Reed wouldn't bother me because she knew that my work was done and that I was a good student. See, it pays to be good and quiet.

I drew in silence; pictures of my mother at her piano, pictures of my father's old '70 Cutlass that we used to sit in at the Drive- In. I dropped my pen and jumped at the sound of the bell ringing in my ear. It broke me from my depressing trance down memory lane, and I was more then grateful.

Computers kept me busy – for about 10 minutes. While the rest of the class was learning the fundamentals for PowerPoint, I started working with the graphic design program on my lap top; Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium. It was something that Carlisle had bought me for my PC, as much as I wanted a Mac to work with, this program was still pretty cool. I thought about getting into art, but my father had always told me that it was more of a hobby then anything else. Carlisle however told me otherwise. But I still wasn't convinced. So Carlisle bought me this program to help apply my art skills to, and I had to admit it was seriously something I was starting to take into consideration.

Third period was time for history, and as much as I enjoyed the subject, I wasn't up for talking about something I had already learned before. And besides, my homework was only thoroughly half done. So I skipped and headed right for the Volvo. I realized then that my art on still life was due today, and although the particular topic on still life was a bore to me, I knew it had to be done. But in my opinion, Still Life was way over done.

As I was shading the shadow of the apple on my page mindlessly, I noticed a familiar figure sitting in the court yard. I recognized it as Bella, immediately getting out of the car to see if she was alright. My first instinct was that she had another encounter with either Lauren or one of the other girls. Otherwise, why else would she be outside in the middle of class?

"Bella?" I asked once I was only a few feet behind her. Bella turned slowly to face me, looking shocked at the fact that I was standing before her. "Edward, what are you doing here? Don't you have class?" she asked looking confused and thoughtful. _Was she trying to figure me out too?_ "I do," I answered truthfully, there was no need to lie to Bella; besides, what would be the harm in it? "But it's healthy to ditch class every now and then," I concluded, which was true if you really thought about it.

"So what about you convict?" I flashed my crooked smile while I asked her. I figured she had to have done something to be sitting in the courtyard in the middle of class time. "Well, ever have Ms. Pete?" Bella asked, no smile at all touching her features. "Ah," I responded. I had had Ms. Pete once, and decided right then and there that I couldn't put up with her. I was relieved that I managed to end the course with the credit, not many of her students did. Once she sent me out of class because I corrected her, and I was pretty positive at that moment that my Spanish was better then hers. The fact that she had upset Bella upset me more then it should have. I had the sudden urge to go into her class and tell her where she could put her lesson plans.

I stood there looking like a complete fool while thinking about Ms. Pete and Bella, only when Bella motioned for me to take a seat did I snap out of my daze. "So," Bella started, "what's that?" she finally asked, pointing to my sketchbook on my lap. "Ah...well this is my sketchbook for my art class. Our latest assignment was to draw still life, but mine wasn't going so well. So I took the last little while to complete it for fifth," I admitted.

"May I see?" she asked, not hesitating in the least. I was startled. No one, other then the art teacher, had ever requested to look into my sketchbook. Esme didn't dare ask to look in, probably thinking that it was some mode of "personal healing". Carlisle gave me space, which was fine by me. And Emmett...well he was Emmett. Bella was the first person who had ever asked to really look at my sketches. Of course this particular book was just for class; my more personal pieces were at home tucked underneath my bed in a tin box labelled _Masen._

"I don't know anything about art so I can't really criticize," she commented when I still hadn't spoken. I openly handed her my fifth period sketchbook. After she stared at the bland apple on the page for a few seconds she said, "Wow, Edward. Like I said I don't know art, but this is beautiful," she said as she wholeheartedly smiled looking up at me from the sketchbook. Her smile lit up her whole face, right then and there I seen first hand the real light in Bella Swan.

"Thanks," I appreciated her compliment, even if it hadn't been true. She had to have guessed my doubt in her real reaction because she said, "Really it's great," nodding, while handing my back my work. Only once had I considered making it my profession, but my father's words entered my mind. "Yeah, well it's not something I will major in. It's just a hobby," I explained. She raised her eyebrow at me, as if to ask _'Why not?' _but didn't say it aloud if that was indeed what she had been thinking.

I took a quick glance at the clock on the side of the gym. Lunch was in a matter of minutes, and I really didn't want another greasy vegetarian pizza – or hear Jazz complain about his relationship with Alice – or lack there of. I just wanted to sit and talk with Bella.

"Do you want to go eat lunch at the diner or something?" she abruptly asked me. I knew what my answer was as soon as the words had left her mouth, but I was surprised that she had asked in the first place. "Sure," I automatically agreed without any hesitation at all. "We can take my car," I offered as I mentally remembered not seeing Bella's truck parked in the school lot. "I was getting tired of cafe food myself," I added after she still hadn't said anything, "and Jasper moping about Alice," I added last minute, knowing that it would make her smile. Sure enough it did.

When we got to the diner there were no cars in the parking lot at all. So far we had beat the lunch hour rush. "What are you in the mood for?" she asked as we headed toward the doors. "I don't know..." I answered truthfully, because I really wasn't that hungry at all.

We took a booth in the back corner and the waitress, Tammy I believe her name was, came over to take our order. "Hey Bella, what can I get you and..." she trailed off when she seen me sitting across the table from Bella. "Edward Cullen?" she finished, making it sound more like a question then anything else. Bella looked over at me questioning me on my order.

"I'll just have a latté," I looked up at her from my seat. She nodded a few times as she scribbled it down on her note pad. "Bella?" she asked as she ripped her gaze away from me. Bella looked from Tammy to me with a smile playing at the corner of her lips. "I'll have an Iced Tea and a Garden Salad," she smiled sweetly as she gave her order to Tammy. "Okay, you're order will be up in about fifteen minutes," Tammy nodded before she walked off to get our drinks. "Thanks Tammy," Bella called after she left.

"Well that was...interesting," Bella notably commented. "Why?" I asked as I cleared my throat. "Just because...well I think someone might be smitten with Edward Cullen," she teased with a light almost in an audible chuckle. Many people were 'smitten' with me, as Bella so graciously put it. But the one person that I had wanted to be 'smitten' with me was not.

My life in Forks was dull and monotonous...until Bella Swan sat with me at my – no our – water tower.

**BPOV**

I had to admit to myself that when I had first seen twenty-one year old Tammy staring – well more like gawking – at Edward, I was furious. I was here with him; she shouldn't have been looking at him like that, let alone at any customer that had another person sitting across from them.

But I had to remember that Edward and I weren't a 'thing,' this was just lunch between two lab partners – at least that's how he'd see it anyways.

Tammy dropped off our beverages, staring at Edward the whole time; not even acknowledging me. I noticed how Edward was looking at me the whole time she was there, but I acted like it hadn't bothered me at all.

"So Edward, how long have you been sketching?" I asked, merely trying to make conversation that wasn't involved with another woman. He simply shrugged indifferently. "I started before I left Chicago," was all he said. I guessed that it had something to do with his parents, so I just nodded and looked the other way, avoiding his deep gaze.

"I hear that trip that the school is planning for the seniors, in January, is going to be big," he stated. _Ah yes, _the Symphony. The school had planned a trip for all the seniors, and well I guess this just happened to be our year. "Yeah the Symphony, are you going?" Edward shrugged, yet again. "I don't know; I've already seen it. And to be honest it wasn't that great," he informed me. I rolled my eyes, "Thanks for telling me, considering I really wanted to go," I glared at him. "Sorry," he chuckled, "But honestly, I would be saving you a lot of regret," I scoffed and shook my head. "I'll keep that in mind when I am sitting in the theatre and desperately wanting to leave," I laughed while I admitted this simply for his benefit. I didn't care if it wasn't all that good – really. All I wanted was a night out on the town, being able to live it up for once. Yes being that father of the police chief should have benefits like that, but in a small and unexciting town like Forks, it held no excitement what-so-ever.

Just then Tammy returned with my salad, this time not looking at Edward once. She was more then likely trying to keep some professionalism, either that or just trying to not give too much away to Edward, not like we hadn't already noticed.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" I asked Edward before I hungrily dug into my salad. "Just eat Bella," he sighed shaking his head. Well it wasn't my fault that my mother had taught me to make sure everyone else is taken care of before you eat yourself ; then again it wasn't my fault that my mother ran off to Phoenix and left me here to rot either.

"What are your plans for after high school, Edward?" I curiously asked as I struggled to get my tomato onto my fork securely. Graduation was only eight months away, and I hadn't decided what I wanted to do with myself personally, but I thought that if I had insight on someone else's plans that I would be able to decide for myself. But Charlie always told me that my decisions shouldn't be based on other people, but what does he know; he isn't a teenager still in high school.

"I don't know..." Edward furrowed her brows as he trailed off into thought. "Honestly, I haven't even been thinking about it. How about you, collage?" I hadn't been thinking about it either. "Nope," I said after I swallowed down another cucumber.

"I was actually thinking about taking graphic design, or spending time with some family in Alaska; my uncle Carlisle's relatives. But then again I was thinking about trying to eventually get into med school." It seemed that Edward wanted to impress Carlisle, or at least keep him happy. But I had a feeling that Carlisle wouldn't care what Edward chose to do, as long as he was happy doing it.

"Yeah, I don't know. I haven't really given it much thought to it," I shamefully admitted. I didn't mean for this to happen, but not every senior student in high school knows what they want to do. It's not exactly something you decide over night. "Have you considered going to Phoenix to spend some time with your mother?" he had asked. Yes, that thought had actually crossed my mind, but I wasn't going to give in. She left me; I didn't leave her. "Yes and no. I couldn't face her. Not after all this time," I hated to admit it, but this was something that I had to come to terms with. Edward was silent, looking at me intently, his green eyes burning with something, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Do you have any contact with your mother at all, Bella?" he asked me, looking concerned with my relationship with my mother. "She emails me, but doesn't dare to call the house. I haven't given her my cell number, even though she has asked. But I'm ashamed to admit that I have responded to her emails," I admitted. I hated how she left and my life still seemed to revolve around someone who had given up on me. I didn't like being the scared and scarred little helpless child.

"Why? I mean, she is your mother Bella, that's a natural instinct to want to be in contact with her," Edward said, his voice sounding harsher then I'm sure he had intended. It was only then that I had remembered that his own mother was gone, and all he had was Carlisle and Esme. But I knew for a fact that Esme had to have been a better mother then Rene, but then again, I'm sure Edward's mother was great too. "You're right, and I know it. But I'm taking my time with her. I will get back there, just not now. I need time," I said, not meeting his gaze. I knew he would disapprove of my decision to wanting more time, but he has to understand; this isn't the easiest thing in the world.

"Right now I am living the present," I decided. "Deal with high school, apply to collages right before the deadline in January, like every other procrastinator," I added with a chuckle, "and finish it all by walking up to get that diploma," I had it all figured out. But there were something things that I had to do before I got there; attending the Community Thanksgiving Gathering was one of them. No hold up, I not only had to attend the damn thing, but I also had promised Charlie that I would help out. Of course this had been several months ago, way before I realized what it was that I was actually agreeing too.

"But," I began, "Till then I have too go to that damn Thanksgiving Community Farce, sorry, _Feast, _and help to serve Forks' finest," I said with sigh. It wasn't something I was looking forward too. I wasn't like my mother in that way, but Charlie always forced it into me, like it was some major quality that I had to poses just because my mother had.

With the mere mention of the Thanksgiving dinner, Edward perked up and looked at me quizzically. "You're going to that? Really?" he asked sounding rather pleased. "Maybe I won't be bored after all," he said under his breath. He caught me looking at him questionably before he continued, "I kind of told Esme that I was considering attending that 'farce'," he chuckled. _Well then, _maybe I wouldn't be too bored either.

"Okay Edward, quick get to know you quiz," I recalled that this wasn't something that we had played yet. "Excuse me?" he asked as he quirked his eye brow in a confused fashion. "Well, I just felt that we, well actually you, know a lot of the personal things about me. But you see friends tend to know all the little things too. So people created a game to sum it all up in a matter of a few questions," I explained to him as if he was a toddler. "You mean Twenty Questions?" he asked, fighting the smile he was hiding. "Kind of, but I always felt that twenty was too big of a number. Let's just stick to the little things, it's easier that way," I had decided this the last time I played this game with Mike – god he was boring.

"So how many questions am I entitled to?" Edward asked while still quirking that perfect eye brow. "About...five," I decided then. If you can't decided that you like someone in five basic questions; then you shouldn't be sitting with them eating a garden salad. "Remember Edward, keep them basic," I reminded him.

"Fine, question one: Favourite book?" Edward asked me while leaning onto the table on his forearms and staring directly into my eyes. Favourite book, now that was an easy one. "_Wuthering Heights_," I informed him while mirroring his pose. He looked at me as if questioning my sanity. "What it's a classic," I defended myself and the book, daring him to start and argument. Edward just shook his head, "I never agreed with it, it was too... I don't know, I guess it's just not my taste in literature," he explained as he tried to defend himself. "Fine, Mr. Cynic, What's your favourite...food?" I asked lamely. It was the only question that popped into my head while he was staring intently at me. "Really, food?" he asked me. "You aren't allowed to question the questions," I protested with a glare. Edward smiled, "Fettuccini Alfredo," he finally responded.

I nodded at his answer. That was something that I could make, and something that I was indeed good at preparing. "Next question: What's the one song that brings a tear to your eye when you hear it on the radio?" he seriously asked me. I hadn't had an answer to his question at first. It was hard to respond with an honest answer when I really didn't know what my answer was. "Either," I began, "_Let it Be _by The Beatles or _Chapel of Love _By the Dixie Cups," Edward laughed at my answer. "_Let it Be _always seems to remind me of my grandmother," I explained, "and _Chapel of Love _was the song that was playing on the radio in the kitchen when my mom left," Edward nodded once, fully understanding why I hated that particular song.

"Umm...What's your favourite movie?" I asked, mentally remembering how bad my last question had been. "That's an easy one. My favourite movie would be _Casablanca," _now it was my turn to be in shock. Edward seemed to have a problem with literature classics, but not one with movie classics. That movie had not been one I had expected to come from his lips. "It was the first movie's my dad took me to see at the Drive-In back in Chicago," he explained. "Well good to know that you like good films," I commented, trying to lighted the atmosphere. "Yeah, well it's no _Wuthering Heights, _but it's up there," he teased. I rolled my eyes at him in a childish fashion.

"Question three: What's your dream vacation Miss Swan?" I was about to question him on his choice, but remembered my own rule._ Why would he want to know that? _It's only for fun, I reminded myself. "I always wanted to see Ireland. Well, my grandmother always wanted too, and since she never got to, I thought that I would go there some day for her," I remembered the day I had asked her that same question. My grandmother never cared what I asked her, I think she just enjoyed her time with me as much as I did with her. "That's nice," Edward commented. "It's great that you want to honour her memory like that. It's sweet," he concluded. I scoffed, "Yeah well that's me, Sweet old' Bella."

"Next question: What do you really want to do Edward? Art, the next Dr. Cullen, or just something else entirely?" I knew I said keep it simple, but one serious question was allowed. Edward pondered my question over and over again in his head; it was as if I could see his options rolling around in that beautifully sculpted head of his. "I don't know. I could be a doctor, and lord knows that Emmett won't fulfill the Cullen name. Art was something more for _me _and no one else. I don't know yet, that's actually a question that keeps coming up. I really don't know," he admitted with a weak shrug. That was as good enough answer as any; truthfully, I wouldn't have answered it any better.

"Question four: Would you mind seeing me again Bella? Not just at school in a vacant classroom or at the water tower late at night?" he asked, looking both embarrassed and hopeful. In fact, this might have been the first time I had ever seen Edward look vulnerable at all. I was in shock; one of the most kind and considerate – not to mention gorgeous – guys at school was seriously asking if I wanted to see him again. Of course I wanted to; there was no argument at all in this case. I took the mental image of Edward then, looking more vulnerable as ever.

As I opened my mouth to answer that damn little silver cell phone of mine rang loudly in my coat pocket. I let my shoulders fall and exhaled. "Just hold that thought," I said while holing up my finger for him to wait. "It's probably just Charlie calling to ask me why I cut out on class," I figured with an exasperated sigh. Edward nodded, leaning off the table and looking away. _Oh great, _I shouldn't have let him wait – he was getting impatient – and you never let guys like Edward Cullen wait.

"Hello?" I answered in a frustrated tone. "Bella?" I heard someone call into the phone. "Yeah, who is this?" I asked honestly puzzled. I had expected to hear Charlie's anxious voice but instead I heard one that I didn't fully recognize, one that was practically screaming over the background noise. _Who would be calling me in the middle of the day?_ I wondered.

"It's Jacob," the voice answered on the other end. Realization finally hit. "Oh! Hey Jake, what's up?" I asked confused as to why Jake was calling me on my cell in the middle of the day. "Well, I was actually wondering what you were up to? It's a holiday here on the Rez and everyone is excited for you to stop by, Emily especially," I had really missed my old La Push friends, and I hadn't been there in awhile. But Edward was still sitting across from me at our lunch table, waiting for me to answer his previous question. "I don't know Jake, I should get to school," I responded, trying to come up with a good excuse, other then the obvious, who was clearly sitting across from me.

"Ah come on Bells, everyone wants to see you. Besides, Charlie won't mind if you're here, and you haven't been here in awhile," Jake pleaded on the other line, automatically making me feel guilty. He was right though, I owed my friends a good visit.

"Okay," I sighed giving in. "I'll be there in about a half an hour," I decided as I mentally calculated how long it would take me to get from the diner, to school to talk to Alice, and back to my house to pick up my truck. "Great! See you then. Bye Bells!" Jake exclaimed on the other end. He hung up the phone before I could even respond.

I snapped my phone shut looking apologetically back at Edward. "I'm sorry that was my friends in La Push. Apparently they have a holiday today and are wondering if I would stop by. I just figured that I already skipped last class, might as well keep going right?" I said with a weak shrug, because I didn't know the answer myself. "Yeah, I guess you'll be needing your truck then huh," I nodded, feeling really bad for ending our lunch date. "I have to stop by the school first though, I need to tell Alice not to wait for me," Edward interrupted me then, "Don't worry about it Bella. I'll tell Alice not to wait for you today," he offered. I had no choice but to accept, I didn't want to be ruder then I had already felt. "Thanks," I told him, neither one of us bringing up the last question that had been asked.

Edward and I headed up to the cash. I pulled out my lunch money just as Edward was pulling out his card. "What are you doing?" I asked, highly confused. "Paying for your salad," he said it slowly, as if it was obvious. "You see Bella, that's what you do when you go out to eat, you have to pay. Otherwise it would be called Dine 'n' Dash. Now I am not really one for law breaking but-" I cut him off by raising my hands in the air as he continued to give me a lecture as if _I_ was a two year old. Really though my father was the chief or police, I think I knew a little about law breaking.

"No, no. What I mean is: why are _you _paying for _my_ food. All you had was a latte, I'm the one who ate, I refuse to let you pay for me with...your own money," I protested as Edward stood there just looking at me dubiously. "Bella, I don't mind really. Besides, it's no big deal," he said as he took a step forward toward the cash register. I continued to protest, but he just simply ignored me as he paid for my lunch while swiping his card. He didn't have to do that really, I was completely capable of paying for myself.

After he had paid, I angrily stormed out of the diner. I knew I was being ridicules, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want Edward Cullen thinking I was another freeloading teen of Forks. "Bella, why are you mad?" He asked as I slouched against the door on the passenger side of the Silver Volvo. "Because you paid for me when all you had was a three dollar coffee," I explained, "and I know that the coffee tastes awful so you shouldn't have had to pay for...it..." I trailed off when I fully realized how stupid I sounded. Edward looked at me, fighting the smile that was pulling at the corner of his lips. "Just, never mind," I said as I caved. "I'll just pay the next time, and next time you _will_ order food," I said as stern and demanding as I could manage, and secretly answering his question from earlier.

When he dropped my off at home, I felt really bad getting out of the car. I wanted an excuse as to why I shouldn't just leave without answering his question. "Um...Here's my cell number," I said as I handed him over a folded piece of paper I had written in the diner while he was paying for _my _salad. He looked at confused and took it slowly from my fingers, making our fingers graze as he took it. "Call me later okay?" I asked, hopefully wishing that he would and that it would be sooner then later. "Inform me of what I missed in Bio, lab partner?" I added, just do he would think that he _had _to call me.

Edward smiled and nodded a couple of times, placing the folded paper with my number written on it in the safety of his coat pocket. "Okay, well I'll see you later," I said as I reluctantly turned to get out of the comfort of the Shiny Silver Volvo.

* * *

_So there is Chapter 8, please Read & Review because that would be great. Reviews help keep the mind motivated!!_

_~DayDreamBeliever'93_


	9. Smile Like You Mean It

**ALL CHARACTERS (AND TWILIGHT) BELONG TO SM**

_Thank you all for the reviews, please keep them rolling in. I know that this wasn't that fast of an update, but we all have lives to maintain. But at the sametime I still managed to maitain this story - although I don't know how I managed but I did. _

_Enjoy Chapter 9! _

_**Chapter 9: Smile like You Mean It**_

**BPOV**

When I was inside the house, it felt really empty and cold. After my lunch with Edward it felt really awkward being...well alone. I kept in mind that I would be seeing all my La Push friends in only a matter of minutes.

I headed right up to my room to change. By the sound of the background noise on the phone, Jacob and the crew were all hanging out at First Beach. So I dressed in proper La Push beach attire: a good wind resistant jacket.

I left a note for Charlie and Alice on the kitchen table, explaining that I might not be home for dinner. Tuesday nights Charlie usually got home early and I would already have supper planned; but I knew that he wouldn't mind if he had to order from The Pizza Stop on account that I was in La Push for the night. I would break my news to him about skipping class later.

I had to wait for a few minutes for my truck to heat up; I _really _missed the summer's heat, the October crisp air had already set in. In that time, I thought about my lunch with Edward. _He _had asked if I wanted to see him again, but didn't bring the question up again. Had he changed his opinion about me in a matter of seconds? I really hoped not. But by the sounds of things, our only relationship would remain as being lab partners, or at best, friends.

I slowly backed out of my driveway, taking my time and making sure not to hit Mr. Carson's ridiculously ugly garden gnomes that just so happened to look freakishly like him. I didn't know if it was his idea or Mrs. Carson's either way there wasn't any weird looking gnomes of her on the front lawn.

Looking at those ugly gnomes reminded me of how Jacob and I used to laugh repeatedly on the topic of Carson's and their weird obsession with lawn fixtures. They once had this weird looking dog that resembled the face of their son; let's just say that I could no longer look at Laurent the same after that, let alone the garden gnome.

Jacob and I used to spend so much time together growing up. In fact, after my mother had left Forks, Jake was the only person I would openly talk with. Charlie tried to get through to me, but I wouldn't let him. At the time, I had blamed him for my mother's abrupt departure.

I rode my bike all the way to La Push that day – literally. We just sat listening to each other's unspoken thoughts; just...being. Jake had taken my broken frail soul and restored me after that. I, however, only repaid him by meeting Mike and visiting La Push less and less. Soon Jake stopped calling altogether, and I stopped going. Only recently had we picked up where we left off – it was like nothing happened.

The weeks before Mike and I decided to end it, Jake and I were texting each other all night; a meaningless conversation in my point-of-view, but that was us; meaningless fun. I actually took off to La Push that night, just because he asked me to. We watched _Roman Holiday _just because Jake said he hadn't seen it. It was one of my favourites so I had insisted that he had to watch at least once in his life time. We didn't finish it that night though; I fell asleep on his father's old plaid couch and Jake on the floor.

But that was us. We had been doing that same song and dance since we were kids.

I met his friends Sam, Embry, Quil, Seth, Paul and Emily a few summers ago. Emily and I would laugh as we watched all the guys try hopelessly again and again to surf the waves, only to fall down every time. They would fall every time, and we would only continue to laugh at their expense. Leah, Emily's cousin, never joined us. It bothered me that I hadn't known her like I had gotten to know Emily, but once I had heard her ungrateful speaking tone towards her bother, Seth; I knew that I wouldn't like her at all.

When I pulled into the parking lot for the local beach, I could see that the beach was filled with all ages of La Push residents. Finding my friends would be difficult. I sat in my truck for a moment gathering my thoughts. I remembered the last time I ever stepped foot on this beach with Jake; it hadn't been our finest moment.

_***_

_I decided to tell Jake about my relationship with Mike at one of the most comfortable spots of our relationship; the beachside park. Growing up me and Jake were always comfortable in the park that was public to all of La Push, and anyone else who decided to use it. This was our sanctuary; we came here when his mom died, we came here when mine left._

_I knew that it would be easier to tell him here, so when Billy told me that Jake had gone out for a run at the beach, I knew it was the only perfect chance I would get. _

_When he spotted me he came running over to greet me with a big wolf like hug and we took our regular spots on the swing set. _

_"So Bells, what's up?" he asked in a casual voice. Jake and my dad were the only ones that had ever called me Bells, I smiled when he said my name. It was harder then I thought, informing my best friend of my newly developed relationship, so I took a deep breath and decided to just get it all out in one single rush. _

_"You know that Mike Newton that goes to school at my high school?" I cautiously asked trying to build some type of momentum. Jake was there for me right after she left, but Mike had noticed a difference way before any of my other friends at school knew. We bonded instantly and the rest was history. He became my crutch, but Jake would always be my safe harbour. _

_"You mean that kid who's parents own that sporting shop?" he asked me quirking his eyebrow. "Yeah, that kid. Also known as Mike and as my friend," I emphasised, hoping he would see my point so I wouldn't have to say it aloud. "Sure sure, your friend Mike. What about him?" That was so typical of Jake; making me say it aloud for the entire world to hear. "Well, he asked me out the other night, and we have a date tomorrow," I said slowly, letting the truth sink in for me as well._

_Jake wasn't speaking, and that frightened me. "Jake?" I asked hesitantly. He finally spoke, not once looking into my eyes. "See you around Bells," and with that he got up from our swing and walked back down the beachside. "Jake!" I called after him, "Where are you going?" He didn't answer, he just turned around and walked back towards me and stopped till he was two inches away from my face; anger painted in his strong features. _

_"Bella, why Mike?" he demanded, nearly spitting the words in my face trying to hold back his anger. I open and closed my mouth repeatedly, not speaking a word. "Don't you see he's going to change you Bella!" he viciously shouted back at me, making me jump in the process. "He will change you Bella, that's what guys like Mike do; they change the good in people and make them lose track of who they really are. You won't be coming here anymore Bella, that's how it is going to end up being like. You will stop coming and I will be here; not waiting for you to finally see that." With an angry huff, Jake turned and stomped away from me, trying to calm his breathing._

_I couldn't believe my ears, did he honestly think that I would forget about him. I would never, and Mike would never make me rip out my La Push roots. Mike was different; Mike was kind. "Jake," I said after we had a moment to relax and calm down. "That won't ever happen; I will never let that happen. It's you and me okay? Always, you're my brother Jake and nothing will ever get in the way of that," I tried to explain to Jake how I felt, but it only seemed to infuriate him more then he already was. _

_"Humph, your brother," he scoffed, mostly to himself. He turned to face me, pain evident in his round dark eyes. "Bella..." he trailed off. "You promise that you will never let that happen? Because I can't...." he dragged on, not finishing what he really wanted to say; how he really felt. "I just...never mind. See you around Bella," he whispered and started toward the beach again. _

_I didn't call after him; he hadn't come back. I was too stunned at the fact that he had called me Bella, something he hadn't done in so long - almost ever. I slumped into the swing and just sat, not crying, not thinking, and just sitting. Lost, hurt, and confused. I hadn't expected him to respond like that at all, in fact, I had no idea what I had expected from my safe harbour._

***

Jake called me three months after that, asking if I still had room in my life for my brother. I couldn't believe he even had to ask; there was always room for my brother in my life. It was that summer that I had met the La Push crew, and it was that summer that Mike made me promise that I wouldn't go back to La Push. I couldn't believe that he had expected that of me; and most importantly, I couldn't believe that I had agreed. Mike had really been controlling, too bad that I was only noticing now.

I got out the truck and immediately smelt the scent of pickerel, salmon, bass, perch, smelts and crab cooking over an open fire. It was the smell of La Push, the smell of my best friend Jake and our home by the ocean floor.

I swiftly made my way through the groups of people on the crowded beach. If I could guess I would say that almost all of La Push's population was here. There were some people I recognized and others that I hadn't. Jake and the others were no where to be seen, until I shifted my eyes over to the cliffs where the older boys often cliff dived. I recognized Paul and Embry at the top, getting ready to jump. I wanted to catch them before they did, so I picked up my pace and started running through the groups of people waiting in line for their fish.

When I finally got to the end of the trail that led to the cliffs, I had seen Emily and Leah – arguing. Leah looked extremely mad and Emily looked nothing but remorseful. It was then that I realized it had been a long time since I was actually in La Push, and I knew that I was completely out of the loop.

"Emily, I've had enough with you and your excuses. What you did was really low and you know it. I can't stand by and act like it doesn't bother me when it clearly does. I've never done anything like this to you and you know it. You're selfish and cruel, and if I never see either of you again for the rest of my life I would be happy!" Leah snarled at Emily till she spotted me. "Great," she sneered as she glowered at me. Leah never liked me, I didn't know if it was because I was close with Emily or if it was because I was always nice to her brother, or if it was just because I was me, but either way she didn't like me at all. Leah angrily stormed past me, hitting her shoulder with my own as she passed.

I just looked apologetic back at Emily, giving her a light smile. "Hey," I greeted in a light weak voice. "What was that about?" I asked motioning behind me. "Don't ask," she grumbled, after releasing a long much needed sigh.

I caught up to her and we headed toward the cliffs were the guys were having their 'fun.' "So, Bella, how's the single life treating you?" She asked, definitely inquiring something. "Great, actually," I responded automatically. "Interested in anyone again yet?" she asked me, with the quirk of her eyebrow. I always admired the beauty of Emily. Although her long jagged scar was clearly visible to the world, she never once wore it with a frown. She smiled at me and waited for me to answer.

I instantly thought of Edward, but remembered how that wasn't really going anywhere, and I had only been single for what, no more then 5 days? "Not exclusively," I shrugged. Emily looked at me with a weird expression, but let my answer drop.

"What's new here?" I asked, hoping to drop the subject of my newly acquired single status. "So-so. Nothing special, oh but uh...Sam asked me to marry him the other week," she glowed as she held out her hand to show me the colossal engagement ring. "Wow, that's beautiful." I gawked at it.

"Yeah, but um, Leah doesn't seem to think that it is," she sighed. I guess Leah wouldn't, Sam was her ex, and from what I could remember, they were really serious. "Yeah, well just give her time. You two will be close again," I tried to assure her. Emily just nodded sadly as we approached the guys at the top of the cliff.

Once Jake had spotted me a giant and familiar grin spread across his face. "Bells," he shouted as the other guys were about to jump off the edge of the cliff. "Jacob!" Embry scolded. "You never shout when people are about to jump off a cliff!" I couldn't help but laugh and add in my two-cents. "You shouldn't be jumping off a cliff in the first place Embry," I joked. Embry just smiled and came over to give me a hug. "Good to see you Bella. Jacob tells us that you finally managed to shake of that Newton Character," he kidded as he lightly punched my shoulder. "Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I," I laughed along with them. My friends in La Push never got along with Mike at all.

"Hey Bells," Jake said as he pulled my into a familiar and comfortable hug. I missed him this last year. "Hey Jake," I whispered in his ear while I was still tightly locked in his arms. "So," I began once he let me go, "What's going on down there?" I asked while motioning toward the beach where most of the La Push residents were eating. "Oh, that's our annual Community Fish Fry," Sam explained while he wrapped his arms securely around Emily. "Every year," Sam explained, "the community gets together and everyone joins in and has fun. It's usually after summer when all the fish are ready to be cooked and fried up. We started it in honour of Harry Clearwater," Sam said while throwing a smile toward Seth, who was standing at the edge of the cliff looking down at the rest of the community honouring his dad.

I remembered Harry; he was one of Charlie's best friends from La Push. From what I had remembered at Harry, he loved to fish and he made one the meanest fish batter I had ever tasted. He was a great dad to both Leah and Seth, and apparently a great community role model too.

I caught up with my old friends; we talked about the new stores in La Push that seemed to be a big deal, the new school they were working on building, and Sam and Emily's upcoming wedding. They planned on having it in two years time. "I can't wait Bella!" Emily exclaimed as she went on and on about the wedding. "You better be there too. I couldn't forgive you if you missed out on my wedding," she warned me with a glaring look. Ah, there was the old Emily I knew and loved. "Of course," I promised her, "I wouldn't miss it for anything."

Jake and I took a walk down to the beach, both of us avoiding the swing set. "So Jake," I stared, trying to release the tension both of us avoided. "What's new with you? I feel like I know everything about everyone else, but I haven't talked to you at all," I inquired with a light chuckle. Jake chuckled back and shrugged. "Nothing too exciting," he explained. "You know same old same old. Taking care of Billy, going to school, watching Embry and Paul cliff dive everyday," he joked. I laughed, I seriously had no idea if the honestly thought that they could make a career off of that.

"And missing you..." Jake finished looking at me through my hair. I smiled, tugging a strand of my hair behind my hair so I could see him better. "I missed you too Jake," I grinned back at my safe harbour. "Really? Because it hasn't been the same without you around here Bells," I looked into Jake's sad and broken eyes, he really had to have missed me being around. "I promise Jake, I'll be around a lot more this year. In fact, I'll try to come here as much as I can before I go away to school," I explained to him, trying my best to assure him and lighten the mood at the same time. Jake smiled whole heartedly at me and hooked his arm in my own and led me down the beach to the fish fry. "Where are you going to school anyway Bells?" he curiously asked me. "I really don't know Jake, no where far I hope," I sighed while resting my head on his shoulder.

I got home at seven that night. Alice was up in her room and Charlie was sitting on the couch watching the game on TV. I tried my best to run by the living room without being spotted by Charlie, but I guess my truck had given me away in the driveway. "The school called Bella," Charlie called as I past the living room. I froze in my tracks and turned to face my angry father. "Yeah, about that..." I trailed off. "Bella, where were you?" he asked, holding back his temper. "First you skip class, and then I come home to find a note on the table telling me to get Pizza!" Yep he was pissed. "Sorry Charlie, I didn't know that I had to slave over a hot stove for you all the time!" I yelled back. "I'm not Mom! You can't expect me to cook all the time for you, you're the parent here not me!" I was really losing it, and I had no idea why. I always felt this toward Charlie and our situation, although I never brought it up because I knew my words would kill him, and he was all I had left.

I saw Charlie's face soften, and I knew I had hit below the belt. "Look, Charlie I'm sorry," I apologized, on the verge of tears. "I know we're a team okay, but I just needed the day," I explained. Charlie looked at me, confused, and doing his best not to blow a fuse. "You needed the day?" he asked slowly. "Okay Bella, like you said _I'm _the parent here not you, you should tell me when you're leaving and what's going on with you." He said slowly trying to get across to me, but I couldn't explode on him.

"Nothing dad," I sighed, giving up. "Well I broke up with Mike, and then I had a falling out with one of my teachers who is really anal, which finally did it. So I went out to lunch with a friend, then Jake called me asking me to go to La Push, so I figured that since I already skipped out that I might as well skip the entire day. So I went to that Fish Fry in honour of Harry Clearwater today at First Beach," I explained in a rush, by the end of my explanation I was out of breath. "See no big deal," I reasoned with a light shrug once I had fully caught my breath.

Charlie just stared at me and didn't say anything. "That Fish Fry was today?" Charlie asked in a mere whisper. I nodded twice. Charlie sat down in his chair and looked at the floor, not saying a word. I knew he felt bad, Harry was his friend, the one that helped him get over my mother leaving. It was then that I seen a real side to Chief Swan. "No wonder why Sue kept trying to call me at work today..." he slurred, mostly to himself.

"So how was it?" he finally asked. "It was great dad, Harry really brought everyone together today," I assured him, giving him a light and honest smile. "Okay, well Bells, just don't let it happen again." I nodded and headed up stairs, leaving Charlie alone with his thoughts.

I went straight for Alice's room, hoping that she would be easier on me then Charlie was. I knocked twice before opening the door, only to find Alice sitting on the bed with her new lap top on hand. "Hey, daddy's gift coming in handy?" I asked while I gestured toward her new toy. "Yeah it's great," she said while closing the top. "So where have you been?" she asked looking at me questionably. "Oh I just spent the day in La Push," I said casually while taking a seat on her bed. "Oh well I was just wondering why Edward Cullen had to come and tell me that I wasn't giving you a ride home after school," she mocked my tone. I knew Alice was trying to act like the reason wasn't killing her. But I knew her better.

"So what's going on there Bella?" She asked, hopping up and down on her bed while turning to face me. I laughed at her enthusiasm, "Nothing," I tried to convince her, but like I said, she was Alice. There was no convincing Alice. She gave me a blank look. "Come on tell me," she pushed when I still hadn't spoken, "You know there's no point on keeping it away from me because I'm going to get it out of you some how," she threatened. So again for about the tenth time tonight I gave in.

"There's nothing going on Alice, he's just me lab partner," I told her what I believed, even though I really didn't want to. "Yeah okay, I'll believe that when I see it, because I really think that he likes you Bella. You should have seen the way he looked when he was talking about you," I didn't believe her. Edward Cullen thought of me as his lab partner and nothing more. "Right okay," I sarcastically rolled my eyes at her.

Quickly trying to change the subject I jumped to a topic that I knew she couldn't resist talking about. "How was your lunch with Jasper?" I asked really hoping to change the subject. "It was great!" Alice exclaimed while hopping up and down on the bed once again. "We're making progress; he asked me if I was going to Rose's Halloween Party. It wasn't a formal question, but I think after this weekend he might finally ask my out; exclusively." Right, that damn party we had been planning a month in advance. I was happy for Alice, but not about attending the party. "That's great," I tried to sound encouraging, but Alice being Alice wasn't fooled.

"It's the party isn't it?" she asked, she knew me all too well. "Well I just don't know if I can go that's all. I've got things...to...do." I lied; Alice didn't press me about it, which was odd. "Okay, you don't have to go Bella, but I know it will mean something to Rose if you did. Besides, it's not like I already started working on your costume or anything," she said while looking away from me and drifting her eyes to the closet. _Crap, _she had.

"Alice," I groaned. She really didn't have to do that. "No really Bella," damn her. She was playing the guilt trip card. I knew there was a reason that she agreed to me not going so easily. "Fine," I groaned, "I'll go." Alice chirped and clapped her hands rapidly. "Well then, what am I going as?" I asked, annoyed. "Nope, you're not getting it out of me Bella, you're just going to have to wait till Friday after school to find out," I sighed as I got up and headed for the door, "Fine," I growled and closed the door behind me. Alice was so pushy.

Around nine, after my nightly shower, I checked my email. Most of it was junk; but one was reminder from Rose about the Halloween party, and another was from my mother; regarding collage. I sighed as I opened the message and read what she had to say:

_Bella,_

_When are you going to make a decision about school? I know you'll love the University of Arizona, and you'll love Phil, my soon to be husband! I know I'm getting married can you believe it?!?! I would really love if you would spend Christmas with us here, there's no snow, and we both know how you hate the snow. So please, just think about it dear, Phil really wants to meet you. When you visit we can talk wedding details. _

_Talk to you soon,_

_Mom._

I couldn't believe her. She wanted me to give up my last Christmas at home to be with her and her future husband Phil. I wasn't looking forward to meeting him at all. How could she tell me that she was getting married in an email? It was only in the last email that she told me about Phil, now they were engaged. This was the second wedding announcement I was given in one day. Whose next, Em and Rose?! This was too much.

I was outraged, on top of everything else; I had to meet with the guidance counsellor tomorrow about my options. I was definitely leaving the University of Arizona off my list.

Just then my cell phone buzzed on my dresser. I jumped out of my seat and turned to glare at it. I read the caller ID that read _Unknown Number._ Who could be calling me at nine o'clock at night?

"Hello?" I answered the phone sounding clueless as ever. "Bella?" the voice on the other end asked back, sounding just as confused as me. After the voice on the other phone responded to me I knew right away who was calling me – I knew due to the butterflies that were fluttering in my stomach. The voice was recognizable on all counts; it made all the anger that my mother's email had given me drift away – it made my heart skip a beat. I felt comforted and completely at ease and not to mention weak in the knees. I knew without a doubt in my mind that it was indeed Edward Cullen.

**EPOV**

After I dropped Bella off at her house, I reluctantly drove back to school. My car felt empty, and her scent still filled the car. When I got to school, I had no idea where to look for Alice, but I knew that wherever Jasper was she was sure to be there.

I found Jasper where he usually was after lunch; the courtyard. Alice was sitting at his side; laughing at something that he had just said. They both looked so obvious, I couldn't believe that neither of them had ever noticed how much the other liked them. I shook my head and headed toward them to rely Bella's message.

When I reached them, Jasper looked up to me as if he was boring holes into my head. He looked as if he didn't want me there at all and almost as though he really despised my presence. "Hey," I cautiously greeted, hoping that I was – how did Emmett put it, 'salting his game?'

"Hey Edward," Alice greeted me back with a friendly smile. Jasper was an idiot for not having the balls to ask her out already. After an awkward moment of silence from the three of us, Alice spoke up. "Well, I better go find Bella before class starts," she said as she began to get up from the table. "Actually Alice that's why I came to talk to you," I said, stopping her in her tracks as she turned to look at me confused, "Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah, ah, Bella said to tell you that she wouldn't be needing a ride home and for you to not wait for her, she decided to go home early," I explained, trying to avoid the both seriously confused looks I was getting from both Jasper and Alice.

"Umm, okay," Alice said slowly. She was about to question me on why I knew where Bella was, but I was glad that she had changed her mind. "Well, I'll see you both later. I'm going to get ready for class," She started to head back into the school when Jasper called after her, "Yeah, I'll call you later?" Alice grinned and turned to face Jasper, "You better," and with that she graciously walked back into the building.

Jasper watched as Alice walked away. I shook my head and chuckled at him. "What?" he asked. "You are just as bad as Emmett, you two aren't dating and you are already pig whipped," Jasper growled and turned to glare at me, finally breaking his gaze from the door that Alice had walked through. "I am not pig whipped," he spat out at me. I laughed and shook my head. "Okay Jazz, whatever you say."

Just then I wished I hadn't said anything about him being the pig in his relationship, that prick asked me about Bella. "So, how did you know about Bella not needing Alice to pick her up?" I rolled my eyes and gave him the obvious answer. "Because she told me, Shitlock." Jasper started at me and continued the Spanish Inquisition. "When did she have the time to tell you then and not Alice herself Edward?" This jerk wouldn't let it drop. "During lunch, now is that enough information for you Jasper?" I asked, with more venom in my voice then necessary. Jasper just chuckled and nodded. Now I was annoyed.

"What now?" I sighed while glaring at him. Jasper shook his head and looked at me. "Here you sit telling me that I'm pig whipped, when she has you giving Alice her messages," I stared at him, trying to put across as blank of a face that I could manage. "And you say I'm pig whipped. If I didn't know any better Edward, I would say that you are carrying a torch for my friend Miss Swan," that prick smirked. He smirked! "It's not like that, we're just –" "Friends?" Jasper asked while cutting me off to finish my unspoken thought.

No we weren't there yet, and from the sound of her voice while talking to her friend on the phone, the most we would remain would be lab partners. "No, we are lab partners. Nothing more Jasper," I sighed and walked off in the direction Alice had taken earlier.

Biology was boring without Bella there. I sat alone at our seat while Banner did nothing but discuss the topic that Bella and I had already covered in our assignment. I had even noticed that Banner was using the words that me and Bella had used to describe the process.

So throughout the entire class I just sat. Sat and thought about Bella. Jasper was wrong; I was not pig whipped. While at the diner during lunch I couldn't help but look at Bella and not see her as more then my lab partner, so yeah Jasper's words stung. They stung more then they should have.

When Bella's phone rang, I couldn't help but be grateful because what ever she was going to say, I was sure that I didn't want to know the answer. Bella answered her phone thinking it was Charlie, but when she realized that it wasn't him, I saw the glow in her eyes when she spoke to her friend. It was then when I realized that Bella only saw me as her lab partner, and whomever was on the phone with her was more her type. She would only be my lab partner, no matter how much I despised the idea, because truthfully, I wanted something much more meaningful.

The bell rang and woke me up from my thoughts. Mr. Banner hadn't assigned any homework, so I was relieved of that much more stress when I ran out of the class room. Art was a breeze. I handed in my still life and to my surprise, the teacher loved it. I knew I was good, but still life wasn't my forte. We started a new assignment, one that I had already finished by the end of class. All we had to do was draw a rough of a landscape. That was simple for me, but apparently not for the rest of the class. The other students were still in their shading phase by the time class had ended. I had no homework at all after school, which was a one in a million chance.

By the time I got to the Volvo, Emmett was already there waiting for me. "Still not talking to Rose?" I asked. "Ha, no, no it's all good with us now. I'm going over to her place later actually; she just has to finish her homework later is all." Emmett and Hale smiled at each other as he climbed into the passenger seat of my car. I rolled my eyes and drove us home in silence.

At home Esme made pork chops; I had no homework so I volunteered to help her prepare dinner. "Sure, Edward that would be lovely," she sounded surprised when I asked her. But she accepted with no questions asked.

"So how are things at school Edward?" she asked me while I skilfully peeled the potatoes. "Alight I guess. All the seniors meet with the Guidance Councillor tomorrow to discuss possible school options, but that's about it I guess," She should have known that already, but it was the only thing I could thing to bring up. "Yes that's right. Well Emmett already has a football scholarship at NYU, so where does that leave you Edward. Where are you considering looking into?" Esme asked in her motherly tone. What had I considered? I didn't really know.

"I don't know yet, I think I am just going to look at my options first before I make any final decisions," that was the best answer I could give Esme that would keep her satisfied. It seemed to work because she nodded and continued getting the chops ready to place in the oven.

"So, what about your social life Edward?" she eventually asked after a while. "What about it?" I asked confused. It wasn't like Esme to pry into my social life; she knew I usually kept to myself. "Well, I don't mean anything by it but it's just that Em and Rose and I was just wondering if you had anyone in mind. I was in high school too not to long ago, I know what its like," I smiled and thought about Esme in high school. Then I thought of my own mother by her side in class and ceased my mental images.

"No, Esme, there's nothing like that right now," I told her. Esme just smiled and patted my shoulder. "Well Edward, if it's any consolation, Carlisle didn't talk to me till my senior year, and it wasn't till prom did he decide to ask me out. He was so nervous, and he was almost too late. In the heat of the moment I chose to switch schools to be with him for second semester at Dartmouth, and it worked out for the better," she laughed while remembering a nervous Carlisle, I laughed with her. "Don't be her too late Edward, whoever she is," Esme whispered to me while giving me a wink.

All throughout dinner all I could think of was Bella and Esme's story of Carlisle. I desperately didn't want to be too late, but I didn't know if my feelings for Bella were real, or if they were just on a whim.

After dinner, since I had helped Esme with dinner, she had gotten Emmett and Carlisle to do the dishes. Emmett whined because he wanted to head on over to Rose's, but one stern look from Carlisle told him it could wait.

While up in my room and going over my reading material for my literature class, I couldn't stop thinking about Bella. I heard Emmett across the hall in his room grabbing his keys and decided that I needed to talk with Jasper. I was there for him with Alice, so he had to be there for me. It was the 'male code' after all.

**"**Emmett," I called from my room. "What?" he shouted back from the top of the stairs. "I'm going with you to Rose's, I want to talk with Jasper about something," Emmett rolled his eyes and called back. "Fine, hurry up though. If Rose gets mad at me, I swear it will be your boney ass on the line!" I knew he meant it too. So I grabbed my jacket and went right for the jeep. No need to flip of which car to take when there wasn't much time to waste with and angry Hale waiting.

When we got to the Hale's house, Emmett ran to the door. His precious Rose answered the door, looking pretty ticked off. "What took you so long?" she asked till she seen me. "And why would you bring that along with you?" She asked as she pointed her perfectly manicured finger at me. "He wanted to talk to Jazz," Emmett explained while wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her in for a kiss. I groaned as Hale broke away and glared at me. "He's up in his room," she answered my annoyed groan by pointing up the stairs. She glared at me as I walked by.

When I reached Jasper's door, I knocked lightly three times. "Just a minute!" I could here Jasper shout back. Finally after about what seemed like five minutes that guy finally answered the door. "Hey Edward, what's up?" he asked out of breath. As soon as I took a step into the room I didn't even need to take a giant whiff to know what I smelt as I walked into the room.

"Jeez Jazz, we aren't even in collage yet and you have already broken out the hard stuff," I said as I wrinkled my nose at the strong smell of grass that you usually smelt at concerts. Jasper just laughed and opened the window wider then it already was. "Yeah well my parents don't know so shut up," he said as he whipped around a can of air freshener. I could see that I couldn't really talk to Jasper in the state of mind that he was in, but I thought that I would give it a go anyway.

"Yo, I talked to Alice earlier," he started before me with a big wide goofy grin on his face. "Oh yeah?" I asked smiling at his optimism. "Yeah I called _her. _I asked if she was coming to the Halloween party that Rose is throwing. She said that she was; it's totally on!" Jasper was freaking me out, since when did he use words like 'totally' he was acting like Emmett. "Yeah well Jazz, I hope that you talked to her before you were in this state," I laughed while I sat in his desk chair. "Of course, why do you think I whipped this shit out man? I'm celebrating," Jasper smiled as he took a seat on his bed. "Okay," I laughed at him, "Are you sure she knows it's a date and that it wasn't just you being curious if she was going?"

Jasper's smile fell and I swear I could see that I just killed his buzz. "I..I think she does, why wouldn't she?" I shrugged, "I don't know Jazz, I'm just asking." Jasper sighed. "Shit, way to kill my buzz Cullen. What if she doesn't think that, what if in fact she thinks that I just asked her because I _was _curious?" I shrugged again. Jasper was quiet, clearly deep in thought. "I don't know Jazz," I started, trying to make him happy again, "That's just me asking, I mean what do I know right?" I said trying to put on my crooked grin to reassure him.

Jasper just sat there. "I mean how do you know Jazz?" I finally asked. Jazz looked at me clueless. "How do I know what?" he asked to clarify. "How do you know that Alice is the one?" Jasper grinned, "Easy; she's the most amazing person I have ever met. She's smart, pretty – no scratch that – she's beautiful! She's kind and sweet, I mean I've never met anyone like her before," he explained with this big goofy grin on his face the whole time. "Have you always known? Or did it take you awhile to finally realize what was there?" I asked, because I had to know if what I was feeling was real.

"Of course I had to analyze it. It took time. I don't believe in love at first sight. There's no such thing as love at first sight man. It's not a _Romeo and Juliet _situation where you see someone and that's who you marry. It could have been in your face all this time and only now you are seeing it. But when I heard her voice I knew right then and there what it was. I wasn't looking at her to feel it, just the sound of her made me know that it was real. That's how you know, man. It's that simple. The butterflies never go away, they never go away..." Jazz trailed off in explanation, and I could see that he really loved Alice. It was there, plain in the grin on his face and not in the substance he had just took. This was real. He had fallen hard.

I walked downstairs a couple of hours later to find Emmett. Esme had wanted us home by nine, so we had to get going or we would have to face one angry caregiver. I seen Emmett sitting on the couch just looking into Hale's eyes and I saw it. What Jasper was talking about earlier, it was there for them too, and they had it bad, just as bad as Jasper had it with Alice. It was so perfect that I almost didn't want to disrupt them. As much as I despised Hale half the time, it was only then had I seen pure love in her eyes.

I cleared my throat and Emmet glanced at his watch. "Okay babe," he said looking down at Rose, "We gotta get going or my mom is going to throw one of your fits," Hale glared at Emmett's comment put kissed him back anyway. "I'll pick you up in the morning," she said as she looked at him not wanting him to leave. I immediately felt like I was leering into a private moment. So I decided to wait for Emmett outside.

When we got home, I saw it in Esme and Carlisle too. She was looking at him the same but different. Their love was stronger then both Jasper's and Emmet's combined. There's was as old as time, as pure as crystal, and as solid as possible. It was only then did I want to look at two people that I hadn't seen in a long time.

I ran up to my room and pulled out my box under my bed that was labelled _Masen. _I pulled out a picture of my mother and father; just a regular picture taken on a regular day. My mother was looking at the camera, but my father was looking at her. Pure love was there too. Pure love was captured in their faces on film, and I knew what I to do.

I wanted to call Bella – no I _needed_ to call Bella. Just to hear her voice.

I pulled out the piece of paper that she had given me that had her number written on it. I dialled as fast as my fingers were capable of dialling. "Hello?" When she answered the phone I felt it. He voice was uneasy and tense. She sounded confused as hell, but I felt it. Everything that Jasper had said, everything I seen in my father's eyes, it was all there. But for me. It was there and it was true, and I knew that it was only a matter of time till I told her.

I knew right then and there. I wouldn't be her too late.

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_Sorry about all the grammer problems, I didn't really revise as much as I should have. So I will try to write chapter 10 as soon as I find the time, but till then..._

_Reviews keep us all motivated! Critism is more then welcome..._

_~DayDreamBeliever'93_

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	10. Old Enough

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

**I am sorry, this chapter is mostly a filler, and shorter then usual, but it kinda forshadows what will come later on in the story. Read && Review.**

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**Chapter 10:Old Enough**

**BPOV**

"Bella?" the voice on the other end asked. "Yeah, hey," I answered him in a shaky and uneven tone. For two reasons: one, I was tired from a long day so my voice was squeaky, and two; it was Edward Cullen; and I really hadn't expected him to call me back at all.

His musical chuckle on the other end woke me up and was able to make me conscious and coherent long enough for my brain to really process what was happening. "How was Biology Hell with Banner?" I jokingly asked, hoping to lesson the tense atmosphere just a little bit. It seemed to work because he laughed and answered back, "Biology Hell, as you put it, wasn't as bad as what tomorrows meeting is going to be like with to Mrs. Benton."

I had to agree, that was definitely another event that I wasn't really looking forward too either. "Well, there's always the option of skipping out on the meeting and not applying to college at all. Oh wait, never mind, because that's not an option," I sarcastically sighed, defeated. It made Edward scoff though. "Yeah I know, if only that were an option indeed," he agreed.

The topic on our meeting with Mrs. Benton had died, making the silence heavy yet again. "So how was your visit with the reservation?" Edward finally asked, sounding as anxious as I felt. I smiled at the remembrance of my resolved relationship with Jacob and everyone else in La Push. "It was great. I never realized how much I really gave up for Mike till it was a tad too late."

"Better late then never Bella," Edward told me; yes I had heard that one. "True," I agreed. "So I really didn't miss much in Bio then?" that was my biggest fear, missing work that would take me forever to catch up on.

"No..." Edward dragged on, contemplating what I really had missed. "No nothing that you don't already know. Banner just prattled on about what we did our assignment on. He even used some of _my_ big words," he teased, "I really think he ripped me off there, Bella. And I wasn't even credited," he sarcastically joked.

I laughed back, he actually had sounded appalled. "Well don't worry Edward," I tried to assure him, "You said that you wanted to teach the students too," I reminded him. I heard Edward huff on the other end. He knew I had him there.

"So, Bella, since it is just me here, can you honestly tell me what you are going to tell Mrs. Benton tomorrow?" he seriously asked now, sounding hopeful for a gods honest response. What did I plan to say? I hadn't had a clue at the time, but I knew Arizona definitely wasn't an option for me.

"Anywhere but Arizona would suffice," I explained to him in a rush. "Ah, still haven't talked to your mom?" he asked me, with only the trace of concern in his tone. "Well," I began to tell him about my mother's most recent, and rude, email. "She did write me an email that I just received today," I paused, trying to stop myself from lashing out due to the eternal anger I had built up and stored inside.

"Oh yeah, well that was nice of her to think of you," Edward tried to make me feel better. But I was only just getting started. "Yeah, it was; especially since she managed to inform me that she was getting married in that email – to a man that I have yet to meet," I informed him, with a vicious tone I had especially reserved for her.

"She ...what? How could someone do that?" he asked me, sounding as baffled as I had been. "Yeah I know. Oh, and she wants me to spend Christmas with them, and to move there next year and attend the University of Arizona. There is no way I am facing her. Besides, with my grades, the best school I can get into is going to be SCCC," I huffed, exasperated after my over exaggerated rant. I knew my grades were better then that, but after my mother left, I just let them fall, or I at least hope I had. A child of a sudden divorce hoped to rebel in some way. My grades were mine.

"What's SCCC?" Edward asked confused. "Seattle Central Community College," I laughed aloud. Edward laughed with me. After a while when we had controlled our outrageous laughs he finally spoke, "I don't know why that's funny; I'm sorry. But Bella, I have seen your Biology work, you're smarter then you give yourself credit for. I'm sure that even you can get into an Ivy League if you really wanted to," he tried to convince me. But that was the thing, I didn't want to, and I knew it was impossible.

"Nothings impossible Bella," he told me, as if he had read my mind. I scoffed, "Says the guy who's going to the Ivy's," I immediately clenched my eyes shut and nervously bit down on my lower lip, regretting my words as soon as they left my mouth. I knew Edward wasn't like that, but I just couldn't help but bring it up. I knew he was smarter then me, and that he could do so much better then me, in more ways then just school.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, "I didn't mean to say that, it just kind of came out that way." Edward was silent on the other end. "It doesn't bother me, but I think you're the one cutting yourself too short. Bella, you have to give yourself some sort of credit here," he said. Why did I always have the urge to listen to him? Edward's opinion was the only one that seemed to matter to me anymore.

"What do you think she'll ask us tomorrow? I'm betting that we'll get the whole 'You are old enough to make your own decisions' speech," I hedged; once again trying to lighten the all too serious conversation topic. "Yeah," he agreed with a sigh, "I don't know about you, but I for one am tired of that speech," I chuckled with him. I think every high school student in the history of time was tired of that speech.

"The thing with that particular speech is this," I began, "No matter how old we get, we are still never going to be old enough to make our own decisions; or at least _they _will never let us be able to make our own decisions." I had thought about this a lot in the past month. If anything I knew that I wanted to get as far away from here as possible, it was my family and friends that were keeping me here.

For the rest of the night Edward and I just talked. We talked about music, school, and our childhoods. We exchanged stories and just got to know each other. I told him of my childhood with Renee and Jacob. How close I was with Alice, my relationships, and even what my biggest dreams and fears were. Edward told me of his parents, Dr. Cullen, and Esme.

He talked about what his mother and father were like, how he and Emmett got along when they were alone, we talked about Thanksgiving, the community farce and we predicted what schools were going to be recommended to us tomorrow. It was nice; just talking to someone different, someone new, and someone who didn't already know my whole life story and wanted what was expected of me. Edward got me that way, he understood more then anyone right now how I was feeling and we hadn't even known each other for more then a month. We just clicked, and it just felt right.

Before I knew it, my cell phone started beeping, and when I glanced at the clock it was going on quarter after two – in the morning. Why did time always have to be against me? Either it went too fast of way too slow. I still wasn't tired, and I wasn't ready to hang up yet. Something told me that Edward wasn't either.

"Is that your battery?" has asked, questioning the faint beeping the erupted to our ears. "Yeah," I sighed, dreading the fact that my battery had to cause our conversation to end. I really wanted to ask him what his plans were for Halloween. "Okay, well I guess I better go charge this thing before its right dead," I slowly told him, hoping that he knew that I really hadn't wanted to end the conversation.

"Yeah, we should hang up now anyway. Mrs. Benton may wonder why all the seniors look so tired," I laughed, right that damn meeting. For a couple of hours I had forgotten about it, and everything that came with it for that matter.

"Okay, well goodnight Edward. I guess I will see you tomorrow outside the guidance office," I pressed, hoping that he got the sign that I did in fact wanted to see him. "Yeah, okay well great, I will see you tomorrow Bella. Goodnight," and with that he hung up the phone.

I took a deep breath and closed my heavy eye lids. I guess I was tired, more tired then I thought that I had been. Before I went to bed, I plugged in my phone to let in charge. I was out like a light before my head even hit the pillow.

***

The next morning I was greeted by Alice who was rushing about in the kitchen. Her grey vest and white blouse fit her figure perfectly making her look extremely professional. She was still glowing, probably thinking about her last conversation with Jasper. I on the other hand couldn't stop thinking about Edward Cullen. I grabbed my books and binder before rushing out of the house to Alice's Porsche. She was honking the horn; hurrying me out of the house.

"What's the rush Alice?" I asked once I was seated in the surprisingly comfortable leather seats; not as comfortable as the Volvo though, I had noticed. "I have to meet with Mrs. Benton early today," I looked at her confused. She rolled her eyes as if it was obvious, "Brandon, Alice. Not all of us have last names with the letter 'S'." I stared at her, I knew that.

"My meeting is first thing in the morning, there's only so many Andersons and Archibald's," she angrily commented in a huff. "I just want as much time as I can have with her, but since I am one of the firsts I have to make it quick. I need to know all the steps I have to go through to apply to go to school in France. My dad already sent the applications to all the best fashion design schools; I just need her to help me translate the French and all the steps I need to go through. So saying that I have a lot to do is an understatement," Alice finally finished, clearly she was stressed.

I actually didn't have to go in till around one o'clock. This was something that I was prepared for. Thanks to my conversation with Edward I knew exactly what it was that I wanted to talk to her about; The East Coast.

When we got to the school, Jasper came right up to Alice and threw his left arm around her shoulder. "What's up Ally?" he asked playfully. He was just as happy that they were moving forward as she was; those two really made me smile, they showed me that there was hope.

Emmett came over and greeted Rose, who had parked beside the Porsche. He also threw his arm around her and led her behind Alice and Jasper into the school. I grinned at my friends and their happiness. Did I miss the public school greetings? Of course I did, but with Mike they never really lasted long. I sighed and followed my friends inside the building.

When I glanced to my right, I instantly regretted it. Behind the school building I had seen Mike and Jessica; at it again. From what I seen those two definitely deserved each other for all I cared. But why did they still hurt me? Why did they still hold that influence?

I turned my gaze to in front of me; just then Edward came out of no where and nudged my shoulder with his. I smiled weekly at him. Edward took my hand comforting me and gave it a light squeeze while he rubbed it with light circles, letting me know that he was there. And that was it. He instantly brightened up my sprits and led me into the building behind the rest of my friends.

I didn't speak till we got to the school foyer. "When do you meet with Mrs. Benton today?" I asked. He was way ahead of me and I was wondering if he knew when he would be meeting with the fate of his next five years.

"Umm...around ten I think," he furrowed his brows while deep in thought, something I noticed he did a lot of. We headed right to the office to pick up our school recommendations. Mrs. Benton had printed out a list of the schools she would be discussing with us to give us a picture of what we were being offered.

I opened my brown envelope at snails pace; nervous of what my options were. Edward opened his with the same speed I had. Together we stood outside the office looking over our list. The first few on mine weren't a surprise. Just like I had predicted SCCC was listed, along with Boston Bay Collage and Washington State, UCLA and to my dismay the University of Arizona. But the two that surprised me the most were: Brown and Yale. Why the hell would I ever have a chance at getting into either Yale or Brown? Both schools were two of the top Ivy League schools, and it's not like I could ever afford such an education. This had to have just been Forks High trying to raise their numbers at the Ivy's.

I looked up at Edward who was still intently studying his list. I crease formed in his forehead. There was definitely a location on his list that didn't suite well with him either.

"So, what's the verdict there Mr. Cullen?" I asked with caution, he still looked shaken up. "Umm..." he mumbled, "Washington State, Berkeley, Juilliard, University of Alaska, Dartmouth, Harvard, and SCCC," he said the last one with a smirk. I was guessing that every student in Forks was given SCCC and Washington as an option, but those two choices were always a given. "You?" he asked me after he quickly looked over his list again. I handed him mine to look over.

He read the list in his head as I intently watched his reaction. As he read them over his facial expression never changed. After he was done reading them over he handed me my list back with an expression in place that never changed; and triumphant smile, which left me confused.

Once I had enough of his cryptic response I had to know the meaning behind it. "Okay, what's with the whole look there you got going on there Edward?" I asked, glaring up at him. "Nothing, it's just that...I knew you were Ivy League material," he laughed while I scoffed.

"Yeah well, I'm Mrs. Benton must have been on crack when she printed out this list, because there is no way I am capable of attending either Brown or Yale, or even Washington State for that matter," I rolled my eyes and turned to head right to my first period class, Edward matching my pace and catching up to walk right beside me.

"Ah, well Bella, aren't you at least a little curious as to why these schools were recommended at all?" I was, but I wasn't about to find out. "No," I sighed, hoping that he would just drop it.

The next thing I knew he was standing in front of me, cutting my off from anyway around him. I was forced to look up into his beautiful green eyes that had held so much depth. He bent down to my level so his face was mere inches from mine. I had the sudden urge to close that distance; this urged both excited and scared me. I liked Edward, but I knew that I was just a simple lab partner to him, but to me he was so much more. I knew in that moment that it wouldn't be long till I was fully head over feet.

I tried to fight back the longing that I had felt in that moment. His breath came over my face. So I looked squarely into his eyes, trying my best to read what was behind them.

"Bella," he breathed, my name slowly leaving his lips. "You need to have more faith in yourself. Mrs. Benton believes in you, your parents believe in you as much as you think that they don't and believe it or not _I _believe in you too. You just need a little faith. So, why not? Give it a shot, the worst that can happen is that you don't get in."

He took a step away from me then, increasing the space between us, more then I was comfortable with. I wanted him close again, which startled me. I took a breath, one that I hadn't realized that I was holding in.

"Yeah, but the worst that can also happen is that my self esteem goes even lower then it already is, as you so nicely put it," I shot back. But I had also picked up that he had said he believed in me. That was one minor detail that I had most definitely not missed. Edward chuckled, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and walking me the rest of the way to class. "No need to analyze everything Bella, take a chance," I smiled. "_Carpe Diem,_" I laughed while leaning into him. "Yeah," he smiled, "Seize the Day."

My morning classes went by in another blur, only this time the blur was accompanied by my ongoing thoughts of Edward and his amazing scent that still filled and haunted my nostrils.

I met up with Alice between first and second to see what her recommendations had been. SCCC, Washington State, Michigan State, Pacific University, Seattle University and UCLA were the main schools on her list while Rose was given the wide range. She was offered: NYU, UCLA, SCCC and Washington State, Berkeley, University of Miami, University of San Francisco and Pacific University. Emmett already had his heart set on NYU so he hadn't even glanced at his sheet at all.

At lunch Jasper was buzzing about his recommendations. He was given top schools in California, Florida and Washington. He talked it over with Mrs. Benton during his meeting and they both decided that he was going to apply to UCLA as his first choice. Rosalie was settled on attending NYU with Emmett, which wasn't a surprise, and Alice was less stressed as she had been this morning.

Mrs. Benton helped her fill out her France application forms during their meeting, and she had told Alice that she thought that this was a great idea and a great chance for her. Jasper was quiet the rest of lunch after Alice had spoken about her plans to move to France. Edward was applying to Alaska as planned, but said that he was still going to apply to other schools too, just to keep his options open.

I couldn't stand it anymore. Too much talk about school and everything else. I had to get out of there. I walked out, leaving my friends staring at me in confusion. Edward however knew what I was thinking and followed me out to the courtyard.

He broke the silence as he took a seat next to me on the picnic table, pulling out his applications. "I grabbed several different applications, each one having no particular reason, except this one," he gestured to the Brown application. I looked at it and shifted my gaze to his, now I was more then confused. He had never wanted to be the Ivy League man that Dr. Cullen had wanted him to be; that his father had wanted him to be. Other applications on the table consisted of Washington State, University of Alaska, Juilliard, and Dartmouth. Why did Brown hold such significance?

"Why?" I finally asked my voice cracking. I quietly cleared my throat playing with the paper sitting on the picnic table. "I took this application because I knew you wouldn't. You need to apply Bella. This is a great opportunity, and you are going to apply. I'll apply with you," he offered. His voice was so soft, yet serious at the same time. He really did believe in me, and he was willing to walk me through it. He was giving me the push that I needed.

I nodded slowly; this was something that I could do. When I didn't get in I wouldn't be crushed, it would just show him that I was right all along. "Okay and you're going to apply to Yale too," he said so firmly and with so much authority that I couldn't refuse him. How could I when he was so kind and understanding with me.

"Okay," my voice was faint and inaudible, but I knew he heard it. I smiled as he reached for my hand yet again making me melt and feel at ease as he rubbed circles with his thumb on my own hand. He made me feel sure of myself, and he made me feel safe.

When it came time for my meeting, I was called from Mr. Banner's Bio class. _Right on cue, _I thought to myself as I gathered my things and walked down the aisle and to the room I had been dreading all week long. Edward squeezed my hand one last time before I got up and giving me one last encouraging smile as I looked back at him from the door.

I entered the room where all the other seniors had passed through today, and took the same seat that had been occupied by everyone else before me. Mrs. Benton read over my track sheet and smiled as she removed her reading glasses to look up at me and placed her hand on the table.

To my surprise she smiled. "Ah, Bella Swan, how are we today?" she asked, kindness filled in her voice. She seemed to care, but then again that was only her job. I knew enough to know that people didn't really care about their jobs, half the time everyone put on a show for others; teachers being a great example.

"To be honest," I began, "nervous and highly confused," I said as I started to sit up straight to be the same eye level as her. She chuckled, "You're the first person to answer me honestly," she informed me, "Everyone else that came in here just answered that they were 'fine'." I scoffed, "With all do respect Mrs. Benton, I am not like everyone else, and I am definitely not Yale material."

She looked over my file once more then looked up to meet my eyes. "Well, according to the information sheet you filled out last month, you want to go major in English, move far, and an affordable school. Well Yale is hands down one of the finest English schools that there is, Harvard is too, but when I seen your SAT scores I knew that Yale was more for you. Now look Bella, I feel, and so do your teachers, that you could attend any school in the country, but your lack to self motivation holds you back," damn Edward. He had basically told me everything she was saying.

I wanted to get up and out, but at the same time I wanted to stay and listen. "Yale is a great option for you Miss Swan, it's a dream many students in the world have, and it is also a school that any student would love to attend. If you're going to have a dream, might as well dream big right?" There was still one little issue that she hadn't touched on.

"I can't afford it even if I wanted to," I sighed. "That's what loans are for, and bursaries that are handed out at graduation. And I am sure that your parents have both been saving money over the past few years," she was right they had, but all of that still wouldn't cover everything.

I took a deep breath and gave in. I had already told Edward that I was going to apply to both Yale and Brown anyway, and my SAT scores hadn't been that bad, hey, maybe I did have a slight chance; a _very _slight chance.

"Okay, I'll take the Brown and Yale applications," Mrs. Benton smiled and pulled them out of the filling cabinet for me. "Now Bella, you are entitled to apply to five schools that is your maximum. Now, Arizona is – "

"No, Arizona is not an option for me," I cut her off, trying to sound sure and firm. It didn't seem to work. "Bella, you mother called me the other week-"

"My mother called?" I asked again shocked, that was surprising. She called the school to ensure that Arizona was recommended and never called to talk to me personally?

"Well yes," Mrs. Benton continued, "She wanted to make sure that you gave Arizona a chance," I rolled my eyes. "Again, with all due respect, you no nothing of what is going on with me and my mother. Like I said, Arizona is not an option," I growled, not meaning to sound so hostile to the idea, but it really was in my case.

Mrs. Benton nodded, finally seeing that I wasn't going to budge at all on the subject. We continued to talk about other schools and what kind of financial support that I would be given. I ended up leaving her office with five different applications; Yale, Brown, UCLA, Washington State, and the University of Alaska.


	11. In View

**TWILIGHT AND IT'S CHARACTERS BELONG TO THE WONDERFUL SM**

**Alrighty, let me just say Happy Mother's Day to start with. This chapter is more so a filler then anything (I am sorry about that, but what are you gonna do [shrugs]?) and it is my shortest chapter, I think. But I am updating twice tonight so that isn't so bad. annual Career Fair We had the at my school this past Thursday, and we had an acomplished author come to our school and give us all great advice on writing, if you attened his workshop (which I did), it was all very informative and helpful. I enjoyed it all and the advice he gave me. I am going to start to use it in my own writing. Anyway, enough about that...**

**Here is Chapter 11....**

* * *

_**Chapter 11: In View**_

My phone call with Bella had gone on longer then I had intended it to. I just wanted to call to her to hear voice, but once we both started talking, we found it impossible to stop. We just went on and on about our childhoods, our families, school, and so much more.

In that conversation alone I found out that there was so much more to Bella Swan, more then I had ever thought possible. I discovered that she was passionate about both music and literature. She cherished her family, even though she would never admit it, and she praised both Alice and Rose because they were the sister's she never really had. From the way she spoke about the both of them, I knew that she would put them both before at any day.

That's why I had fallen for this girl. She had a hard exterior, but underneath she was fragile and selfless. She was beautiful and pure; she was strong and brave. If only she had enough of the self esteem that she needed to break free out of her comfort zone. As much as she talked about wanting out, she also didn't realize how much her roots were attached to this place.

Before I knew it, it was two in the morning, and I was yawning. After I got off the phone with her, I sensed that she didn't want it to end as much as I did. Hearing her voice put me in my own personal heaven, even if it was only for a little while. I loved hearing her speak with such fluency. Her laugh was perfect, even her scoffs and snickers held some kind of significance to defining who she was. I swear that when I was talking to her on the phone I could pinpoint exactly when she would blush. I loved the thought of having that affect on her. I was slowly unlocking the secrets to her, and I couldn't wait to find out more.

The next morning, after my four hours of sleep, I was met by Esme who quickly came over to me to inspect my wardrobe. She glanced up and down twice and said, "Well don't you look...professional. Just like one should look when they are going to meet with the guidance councillor to discuss a promising education," she commented with a colossal smile plastered on her face.

I forced a smile back till Carlisle rounded the corner, "Ah yes," he we go, the Dr. Carlisle Cullen hidden messaged compliment, "Very Ivy League," there it was; his way of saying chose Harvard or Dartmouth. "Now Carlisle," Esme started, "Edward can chose wherever he wants to go." Thank the lord for Esme. Carlisle just gave me one stern nod and marched back off to his study, which coincidently had a Dartmouth diploma hanging on the wall.

I quickly ate my breakfast, getting a silent apologetic look from Esme for Carlisle's behaviour. Truthfully I had expected it, he couldn't force and education on Emmett so he did it to me. It made sense; I just wished that his standards weren't set so high.

At school, Emmett greeted Rose as soon as soon as she stepped out of her car. I glanced over to see the bright yellow Porsche parked beside the new red BMW. Jasper greeted an overjoyed Alice, and the two couples headed inside together.

I watched as lone Bella walked a long distance behind them. I wanted to walk up to her and greet her just like the others had, but I had a gut feeling that she wouldn't take it too lightly.

Then I noticed her suddenly freeze in her tracks and stare off into the distance. I was surprised by how worried her abrupt stop made me feel. I followed her gaze, which was looking directly at Mike and Jessica, who were locked and intertwined together. She shook herself out of it and started walking forward again, but at a sluggish pace and keeping her gaze straight ahead of her. Anyone could she that the sight of Jess and Newton sucking face and openly showing everyone their new - whatever they were - had hurt her.

I wanted to be there, so without thinking, I marched right up to Bella's side and placed my hand in hers, merely comforting her. Once I did that I instantly froze, afraid of what she was going to think when she realized what I had done.

To my relief, she squeezed back and gave me, that beautiful and grateful smile. It was then that I had no more worries around her. I kept her hand clasped in mine all the way to the office. We had been instructed to pick up our collage recommendations as soon as we had arrived that very morning. Bella slowly opened hers as I paced myself for my own impending doom.

My recommended schools weren't a surprise. Alaska was only listed because I had requested it in the information sheets we had filled out back in the beginning of September. I had requested somewhere in Alaska, I simply just wanted to get away, but when I looked down at Bella, who in fact was scowling at her own list, I had the instant urge to stay, or at least follow her. I would follow her anywhere.

When she handed me her sheet, I was impressed to see that both Brown and Yale had made her list. Yale wasn't even listed on mine. Bella didn't look too pleased however, and I knew that it had been due to the fact that Arizona was among Mrs. Benton's recommendations. I knew why she had chosen those schools for Bella though, it was because she was brilliant, witty, talented, and so many other characteristics that Yale students bore. Mrs. Benton had faith in Bella; she believed in her _almost_ as much as I did.

I walked Bella to her class, hand in hand. Yeah, we were just friends. But I never wanted to let go. Since she had been declared single, I had heard so many different comments from the other guys at school - comments that I wish I hadn't heard at all. Bella deserved better then them, better then their thoughts, and definitely better then Forks. It pissed me off; some of the vile thoughts that consumed the minds of the hormonal air headed teenage boys at our school. But when I held her hand walking up and down the halls of our daily prison I felt as though I could protect her from every single one of them.

I had also discovered that Bella was stubborn. The saying stubborn as a mule didn't even apply in Bella's case; she was worse. I stopped her and stood in front of her so she would take me seriously. I leaned closer to her, so close that I actually was inches away from her face.

Once I looked into her eyes, I could feel my stomach drop. Her scent invaded my lungs and never left my senses. I loved her personal scent, but I had to keep in mind that we were taking things slow, and that if I leaned all the way in to kiss her I would really by crossing the line that we hadn't yet reached.

So I told her that I believed in her, that despite what she thought, so did her parents – both of them. She seemed to take me seriously. So, reluctantly, I took a big step back to give her space and clear my own head. She had this control over me, one that _I_ needed to take control of; if not then we were both in a heap of trouble.

I was called to meet with Mrs. Benton in the middle of second period. I took a seat in the ridiculously oversized chair in front of the desk labelled _O. Benton. _I wondered what the _O _stood for, because it looked really random and oddly out of place.

She made the atmosphere uneasy and put me on edge as soon as I entered the room, I felt like I was being interrogated, but I knew that that was what I was supposed to be feeling. She studied the files for what seemed like forever before she finally looked up at me. She took her glasses off and placed both her hands on top of the desk. _Okay, here we go,_ I thought as she looked at me before finally speaking.

"Well Edward, what are your initial plans for next year?" Well that was easy; move as far away from here as possible. "I plan on going to Alaska and spending some time with relatives, going to school for a few years and pick up somewhere after that," I finished. Mrs. Benton nodded.

"Okay, well I think that the University of Alaska would be great for you. But just to keep your options open, I suggest that you apply to Dartmouth and Brown. Both schools will broaden your horizons and make you far more applicable for other decisions you might choose to make," she pushed. That's when I thought: _maybe Bella was right_, maybe they were just trying to risen there academic standings – not that it was possible, this is Forks after all.

"Your SAT scores are amazing Edward, with these here, and your current grades, you can get into any school in the country, possibly beyond that," I knew that, but doesn't mean I was going to jump at the opportunity. I didn't want to be Carlisle's golden son forever, I wanted to break out of that shell and do things all on my own. But when I glanced down at my option sheet, Bella's face entered my mind, and I new right then that she was who I wanted to grow with. I wanted her with me when I did this.

"I'll apply to Brown," was all I said. I could get Bella to apply with me, and I could get Bella excited on going. "Great," Mrs. Benton smiled ecstatically and pulled out an application form. I mentally went over what else I had seen on Bella's list. "Brown, Washington State, University of Alaska," I started, but froze. Where else would I apply to? Julliard was great for my music, and would be a real honour to get into. "Juilliard and...Dartmouth," I sighed. Carlisle would at least know that Dartmouth would be on my mind, even though it actually wasn't.

"Great choices Edward, here are all the applications needed. You know when the due date is," Mrs. Benton went on and on as she handed me form after form and finally sent me on my way. I placed the papers in my book bag and went to the rest of my classes, not wanting to look at them anymore.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was finally happy that I had gotten my meeting over and done with. But I was even more elated when I rounded the corner and spotted Bella standing at her locker.

I hated how my heart spontaneously soared at the sight of her; I didn't want my emotions running wild on me. She was standing with Rose and Alice, who were both talking about their meetings, but Bella looked as though she couldn't care less. Together the three walked toward the cafe, Bella dragging her feet as they went.

I met up with Jazz and Em, who were both jabbering on and on about UCLA and NYU. "I didn't even open my envelope," Em went on, "I figured, I'm already going to NYU so what's the point. Rose is coming with me, so what else do I need?" I blocked out Emmett as he continued to talk about what it's going to be like living with Rose...Alone.

"Eww, Em that's my sister you're talking about there!" Jazz exclaimed as he slugged Emmett in the arm. Although I wasn't listening, I was pretty sure that he deserved it regardless.

"So where did you decide to settle with Edward?" Jazz asked while Em rubbed his left shoulder, viciously glaring at Jasper. "Umm...University of Alaska," I said it with so much finality that I hoped they wouldn't bring up the subject again. I think I heard Jazz say that he was going to apply to UCLA, but I stopped listening again once we reached the cafe and I spotted Bella and the other girls sitting at their usual table.

We took our seats; me sitting beside Bella. The other guys talked on and on about school, just like the rest of our fellow seniors. But I intently watched as Bella mentally squirmed at the thought of school. I knew that she still was on edge and confused as ever, so when she abruptly left the table I wasn't surprised.

I followed her out to the cafe, hoping that I could talk her out of her nerves, even if it was only for a few minutes. I managed to get her to agree to apply to both Yale and Brown, which had been my goal the moment I seen it had been given to her as an option. Bella deserved to go to Yale just like every other trust fund student that already attended, and the neither the concept of money nor her insecure fears were going to stop her.

At the end of the day I hadn't met up with Bella, actually I hadn't seen Bella at all. She didn't come back to class, and by the time I left the school, the Porsche that was parked out by the red BMW had already gone.

When Emmett and I got home, we were met by an empty house. Carlisle was at the hospital, and I assumed that Esme was still at the office. I headed right to my room and read over the application instructions. I figured that Bella and I could find time to get together and fill out the application forms for Brown, so I decided to read over Alaska first.

By the time I had finished reading over all five, there was a knock at my door: Carlisle. "Hey Edward," he greeted once he was through the door and standing in the middle of my room. "How was the meeting?" he asked as he took a seat across from me on my bed. I closed my lap top and turned my chair around to face him.

"Okay," I decided as I thought it over. "I settled on Alaska, Brown, Dartmouth, and Washington Sate as my main choices," there was no need to tell him about Juilliard because I knew that he wouldn't be too enthused on that idea.

He smiled and stood up and turned to leave my room. "That's great Edward, I'm proud of you, your dad would be too," he told me sincerely as he stopped to turn back and look at me. I furrowed my brows, thinking of how my father would highly disapprove of Juilliard, but forced a smile for Carlisle anyway. "Well, I'll leave you to your applications and homework. Dinner is in a half hour," he said as he closed the door behind him.

I came down when I was called. Esme still wasn't home, which wasn't unusual, so Carlisle had thrown fish sticks in the oven. Both Emmett and I wrinkled our noses at the sight, but ate it anyway. It was edible.

Once I was alone in my room, and bored of looking at applications, I decided to lie down and try to sleep. I lied there, thinking of my parents, collage, my future, and...Bella Swan.

Just as my thoughts started to fully take over my mind, my cell phone buzzed and pulled me from my overflowing water fall of thoughts. I glanced at the caller ID, _Unknown Number. _I furrowed my brows as I flipped my phone open.

"Hello?" I answered, thinking that it was Jasper, but to my surprise Bella's angelic voice answered on the other end. "Hey, so what are you up to?" My heart sped up at the sound of it. _Why did she have to have so much control over me?_

"Nothing at the moment, just thinking I guess," I sighed lightly, hoping that she wouldn't catch it, but being Bella she did. "About?" she hedged in a pleading sounding pout, trying to get me to talk. It eventually worked.

"My parents, what they would think of my right now," I whispered, not wanting to hear my thoughts spoken aloud. Bella was quiet for a moment, thoughtful. "I think your parents are really proud of you Edward. I mean how can they not be," she told me as if it was obvious.

"I mean they get to know that they have the most generous, understanding, and kind hearted son they could ever have hoped for. Your applying to Brown, now that's quite an accomplishment right there. Their son is great and he doesn't even know it because he is too modest. Edward your parents are proud, especially your father," she stopped talking then and quickly picked up and continued sounding as understanding and so sure, "He is proud of you Edward, more so because you are following your heat and looking into Juilliard."

That there was why she was great; Bella could make me feel better in a matter of seconds. She knew what I needed to here and she told me flat out, and just because she knew it was what I needed to hear.

"Thank you," I told her after what she had said sunk in. "I appreciate it Bella, really I do," I wholeheartedly thanked her, because I really meant it. Then she said the words that I didn't want to hear her say, "That's what I'm here for, besides, that's what _friends _are for right?" she emphasized friends a little more that I would have liked her too. But something wasn't right when she said it, she sounded...unsatisfied?

After an awkward silence I finally spoke up, hoping that she didn't hear the hesitation in my silence. But knowing her she would. "So, where did you decide to apply to?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Umm...Washington State, Yale, Brown, NYU and..._theUniversityofAlaska_." I caught the first four, but the last school I couldn't quite make out. "What was that?" I politely asked. Bella huffed and continued, "I decided to apply to the... University of Alaska," she whispered, almost as if she was afraid to tell me.

I was speechless. Why would she apply to Alaska, from our conversation last night we have established that Bella hated the cold, so why move to Alaska? "What? Why? Bella you hate the cold," I asked, stating the obvious. I loved the idea of her possibly going to school with me, but I knew it wasn't a realistic choice, I mean it wasn't even on her list of options.

Bella took a deep breath, "Well," she began, the rest coming out in a rush, "I wanted to apply with you to a school because you selflessly agreed to apply to Brown with me just so I would take a giant leap and you did that for me and I decided that I would do that for you," she spoke so fast, not breaking for air once.

I had to laugh, she thought I was selfless. Yes, I said I was going to go to Brown to give her a sense of mind to go, but I also wanted to go with the hope we would both get in. I wasn't completely one hundred percent selfless.

"Bella, you didn't have to apply to Alaska, but thank you anyway," I said with a laugh. Bella really was kind, if anything she was the most selfless out of the two of us.

"On another note, what are you doing for Halloween?" Bella asked me. I was thrown back, I hadn't even thought about Halloween, actually I had no idea that Halloween was coming up. "Nothing Bella, I have no plans what so ever."

"Well I was wondering if you would accompany me to Rose's Halloween party," I was hesitant about the party. Halloween and a Hale party didn't sound like a good mix. "I don't know Bella; I'm not very big on Halloween..." I trailed off hoping that she would get the hint.

"Edward they're not that bad, really. Besides I tried to get out of this, believe me I did, but Alice guilt tripped me into it, twice. Let's just say that she threatened me and I thought that you could keep me company. We don't have to stay long, an hour – tops." She really wanted me to go, and by the sound of it, she did try to get out of it, and I wasn't surprised at hearing Alice threatening her. Alice seemed to be the bossy type.

"We can catch a movie after, of maybe we can stop at the water tower and tell scary stories or something, come on it'll be fun," Bella teased, actually sounding excited about the idea. I couldn't deny her anything, and I already knew I was going to attend Hale's Halloween Bash anyway. "Alright, I'm in. But I'm not dressing up," I stated firmly, hoping to make that fact perfectly clear.

"Great!" Bella exclaimed on the other end of the line, I could hear the smile in her voice. "Unfortunately I will have to dress up; I'm just hoping that Alice will at least make my outfit tasteful. Okay, well I will see you tomorrow, Edward. I have to finish my homework before I go to bed," she grumbled as she reminded herself. I smiled, "Okay, goodnight. I'll talk to you tomorrow Bella."

I flipped my phone shut and thought about what Friday night would bring.

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**I am deeply sorry for the grammer errors and what not. I really did try to revise this time...honestly.**

**~_DayDreamBeliever'93_**


	12. Collect Call

**I DO NOT OWN TWILGHT**

**Here is my second update of the night. The next chapter is almost complete, and should be up no later then next week depending on my school load. I know a lot of other stories already have them together at this point, but here's the thing with that, I feel that those stories are too fast and a little unrealistic at times. So, I am trying to keep this story as real as possible, and writing it the best of my ability. There, that's my little rant for the night, but anywho...**

**Chapter 12...**

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_**Chapter 12: Collect Call**_

**BPOV**

Thursday morning I staggered lazily across the hall to Alice's room. Her damn alarm clock had woken me up at the ungodly hour of five in the morning. _Charlie_ didn't even get up that early.

I knocked on her door, with much more force then what was really required. "Alice!" I yelled in between my loud pounds. "Alice, why did your stupid annoying, alarm clock wake me up at five?" I growled. Alice's little head poked out of her doorway and smiled. "Well good morning to you too, Sunshine," she greeted me with her bright smile.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, morning," I said narrowing my eyes at the little head that I desperately wanted to flick off right then. "Bella, its seven thirty now, so I suggest you run along and jump in the shower," she said, trying to distract me with her sweet and suspicious smile.

"Alice, what are you doing in there?" I asked as I tried to push past her door. "Nothing," she shouted as she slammed the door in my face, denying me further entrance. "Alice!" I shouted back.

"Fine," I mumbled under my breath after she refused to respond, "I'll find out eventually." I wondered if she was in fact sneaking Jasper into her room at night. It's not like his parents would notice. But, then again, Alice would know better then to sneak a boy into the police chief's home after hours. Half the time, when I was dating Mike, he wasn't even allowed to pass the front door.

After my quick shower, I huffed all the way down the stairs. When I turned the corner Alice was sitting at the table and eating a bagel, with that smile still stuck on her face. If I had anything to say about it, I would have almost called it...mischievous.

"Wow Bella, aren't we looking rough this morning?" she joked while quirking her little head to the side. I wasn't in the mood. Maybe if that damn alarm wasn't ringing at god knows what time, I would look more rested up.

"What were you doing Alice?" I demanded again. I hated secrets. Alice rolled her eyes and threw her head back while she groaned, "Fine, if you must know I have been working on our Halloween costumes for the party tomorrow, and I wanted it to be a surprise," she explained as she turned back to her quick breakfast.

"Alice, you know I hate surprises," I narrowed my eyes at her while I reached for a pop tart; something else had to be going on. Suddenly the whole Jasper theory didn't look so ridicules.

"Well Bella, this is a surprise that you are actually going to love," she smiled and jumped up from her seat. I gaped at her as she rounded the corner, "Come on Bella, we're going to be late!" she called from what sounded like the front door.

I groaned and followed Alice to the Porsche. On my way down the driveway, I frowned at my truck and sighed. Just once I would like to ride up to school in it, but Alice's excuse was, 'I can't ride in that, I'm little and can't jump down from it.' That was a good one, considering Alice hated being called little, but I let her get away with it anyway, despite the fact that I knew what she really wanted.

We pulled up to the school lot, which was just like any other day. Or so it seemed. It wasn't till we got out of the car did I notice that everyone in the area was quiet. Alice and I turned to look in the direction they were all staring at. Jess and Mike were yelling at each other, which was a big difference from what I had seen the yesterday.

I rolled my eyes and remembered that that had been me not too long ago. But now it was different, _I_ was the bystander. Only then had I realized how stupid I had looked yelling on and on about something that was petty and meaningless.

I walked to the building with Alice running to catch up with me. "Kinda like a Twilight Zone isn't it," she commented. I shrugged, brushing it off. It really didn't bother me anymore.

Edward was standing outside my locker when I got there. He wore a crooked smile as he looked up at me from under his eyelashes. I took a deep breath; I swear my heart sputtered – twice.

"Hey, quite a scene out there huh," I said sarcastically. Edward turned to face me as I battled with my locker combination. "I wouldn't know," he started, "I wasn't looking at the crowd, but mostly at the one person that stood out," he said while his graze burned into me. I avoided his deep green eyes, afraid that if I even glanced at him just once I wouldn't be able to escape the green sea that they were.

"Bella," Rose called from the end of the hall. Edward furrowed his brows and turned away from me to make room for her. I was relieved when the space between us increased, but at the same time I craved the closeness again. I was torn.

"Bella, what..." she drifted her gaze awkwardly to Edward and back to me confusingly. "What time am I coming over later?" she asked, finishing her question from earlier._ Now_ I was confused, "Wait, Rose I didn't know that you were coming over later..." I trailed off.

"Oh, Alice didn't tell you?" she asked as if she had expected Alice to. I rapidly shook my head. "Oh, well I'm coming over later to do our final fitting for our costumes." _Well Alice, thanks for sharing that information with me. _

"Yeah about that, do you know what we're going as?" I asked, hoping that Rose had the slightest clue. She didn't. "No, I just know that Alice said it was creative, and that we would go together. Whatever that means," she shrugged.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" we heard Emmett shout at some poor freshman from around the corner. Rose rolled her eyes, "Okay, well I'm going to freshen up, don't tell Emmett you've seen me. He keeps talking about NYU, and as much as I am happy to soon finally be able to leave this place with him, he, as usual, has gone and over done it." Edward and I both chuckled. "Yeah, sure Rose, I'll see you later," I said as she walked in the opposite direction of Emmett's voice.

I closed my locker as fast as I could so I wouldn't be subjected to Emmett's jabber, but being slow Bella, of course I wasn't fast enough. Emmett threw one arm around my shoulders, and the other around Edward's.

"Hey, have you two seen Rose?" he asked with his mouth full. Emmett, as usual was eating an apple first thing in the morning. You never caught Emmett eating fruit, unless it was an apple. Don't ask why, but he had a thing for apples.

"No, Em I haven't. Sorry," I apologized, mostly for lying to him. But he didn't need to know that minor detail. He looked down at me suspiciously, but he let it drop once he realized that I wasn't going to give anything away.

Edward was still quiet at my side, but I didn't say anything either. "Hey, what were you two talking about?" Emmett asked, seeming more and more interested in the fact that the two of us were supposedly alone. "Umm..." I was at a loss.

"Why we were talking about you Emmett," Edward sarcastically told his cousin with a sly smile. Emmett grinned, "Yeah, isn't it great that I am in your two lives, what would you two do without me? What are the two of you going to do without me while I'm living it up in The Big Apple?" he asked while messing up Edward's hair.

"Gee, I don't know Emmett," Edward said while faking a smile and trying to fix his now messy hair, "But I'm sure we'll manage," he finished. Emmett narrowed his eyes with an evil smirk planting on his features, till he spotted Rose in at her locker.

"Rose," he hollered as he ran to catch up with her, leaving me and Edward behind. I gave Rose an apologetic look, but at the same time I was more then grateful to have gotten rid of Emmett.

"Sorry about Emmett," Edward apologized. I laughed, "It's only Emmett," I said while shrugging my left shoulder. "Yeah, true." Edward agreed. "So, Bella," he began once we had a moment alone. "I was going to ask you what your plans were for after school, but I guess you have some sort of dress rehearsal huh," I sighed. "Yeah, unfortunately my evening consists of an overexcited Alice and a not too enthused Rose."

"Not the best mix now is it?" Edward asked. I shook my head slowly while biting on my lower lip, "You have no idea."

"So, are you still planning on coming to the party tomorrow night?" I asked, hopeful. When I called him last night, I was worried that he would say he had better plans, but part of me thought that he wouldn't mind accompanying me to one of the last Hale holiday parties of the year.

"Yeah, of course Bella, I wouldn't let you lose on the dogs to fend for yourself," he said with his crooked smile. I rolled my eyes, "How thoughtful."

His eyes were looking deep into mine then, and I wondered what exactly it was that he was seeing. I honestly hated my eye colour. It was too dark in my opinion, but Edward seemed to always want to gaze at them. He made me weak in the knees - in a good way.

The bell rung throughout the halls of the school, making us both jump in surprise. "I should...get...to class," I muttered weakly. I really didn't want to move from under his gaze, and despite the fact that I didn't want to return to Ms. Pete's torture chamber, I knew I had no choice.

"Yeah, I should get going too. Carlisle is picking me up at lunch, apparently he wants me to job shadow at the hospital," he said, looking deeply disturbed. "You still haven't told him that you might not want to be a doctor?" I asked, concerned about him. Edward shook his head and gave me that crooked smile. "You still haven't talked to your mom," it wasn't a question.

I narrowed my eyes up at him, "Ah, touché," and I turned and headed toward my first class. I head him chuckle from behind me, but I didn't look back.

After school had let out, Alice rushed me into the Porsche and all the way home. "Bella, we have to hurry, Rose is going to be at the house at four, and I still have last minute adjustments to make to all of our costumes," Alice explained as she practically buckled me in. "Alice," I shouted as I pulled her hands off of the buckle, "I can buckle myself in," I told her while she huffed. "Fine, but do it quickly."

The next thing I knew I was hanging for dear life onto the edge of my seat. _Note to self: never get in the car with an over determined and stressed Alice._

She dragged me all the way upstairs, but stopped when we got to her door. "Okay, now Bella, why don't you go downstairs and make us all one of those after school platter thingies your mom used to make," she said as she tried to go into her room. "Alice," I stopped her. "Just tell me, I'm going to know in half an hour anyway," I tried to reason with her. But Alice wouldn't have it.

"No Bella, wait for Rose!" she scolded me just for asking. I crossed my arms over my chest and quirked my eyebrow at her. I wasn't going to budge. Alice rolled her eyes, "Fine," she gave in, "I'll tell you but you can't see till Rose gets here," Alice said firmly as she pointed her harmful index finger at me. I nodded in agreement, that's all I had wanted in the first place.

"Well then _nosey_ Bella, me, you and Rose are going as The Sirens," Alice said with a curt nod. _Okay, _but weren't The Sirens like..._birds?_ I looked at Alice confused, "Alice, aren't The Sirens like half...birds? I don't do feathers," I whined as I turned to walk to the kitchen.

"You wear what I tell you to wear!" Alice shouted back from the top of the stairs. "Since when Brandon?" I asked annoyed. Alice smiled smugly, "Since Rose put me on costume duty," and she turned on her heels with her head held high and marched off into her room. _I was going to kill Rose for giving Alice that power over me._

There was a knock and the door right at four, and Rose stalked in, not needing a formal greeting. She sat in my living room and took out all her nail care supplies. "What's all this for?" I asked as I eyed Rose. "My nail set, Alice asked me to bring it over," she explained. I laughed humorously, "Of course, it makes sense for three birds to have sharp claws doesn't it," Rose nodded and stopped mid nod. "Birds?" she asked. I nodded with a grim smile. "No..." she trailed off shaking her head. I smiled tightly, "Yep," I answered her, popping the 'p.'

Alice bobbed down the stairs then and smile when she seen us both sitting there. "Okay, they're ready for us to try on," she excitedly told us with a single clap of her hands. Rose put her finger up to stop Alice, "Um...I think I recall said tasteful, Alice. Not birds..." she cautiously trailed off, trying to let Alice down easily. Alice frowned at me, "Why are you telling her such lies, Bella? I would never go as a bird. I said _The Sirens, _not birds," she rolled her eyes and stormed back up the stairs.

Rose and I exchanged confused glances, but followed Alice up the stairs anyway. "But Alice, the Sirens are birds..." I tried to tell her in case she had in fact been misinformed. Everyone in this town had seemed to be misinformed on something.

"Well, not these Sirens," Alice said with a smile as she swung her door open. In the middle of Alice's room was three manikins, each wore a homemade Alice Brandon design. The dresses were all black, and each was a different style.

Alice laughed her sweet little childlike laugh. "Yes The Sirens were half birds, but they were also extremely sexy, captivating and _very_ tempting. Now, since Bella doesn't see herself like that in anyway shape or form, then tomorrow night is a perfect occasion for her to try to act like it. And there's three of us, so why not," Alice said with a casual shrug and she straightened out the dresses.

Rose stepped forward to analyze Alice's work. "Was this what you were working on this morning?" I asked as I fingered one of the dresses. They were absolutely beautiful. "Yeah," Alice sighed, "I had to finish the hem on your dress," she informed me. "Whose is which?" Rose asked as she took a step back too look at them all.

Alice stepped forward and handed Rose the gorgeous figure hugging, halter top style, black dress. Rose smiled and took the dress to the bathroom. I smiled and turned to face Alice who was holding another dress in front of me, which I assumed, was mine. My dress was black as well, but strapless. The bottom portion of the dress was shiny silver, and a bow wrapped around the waist. Alice had truly outdone herself with these.

"Alice, how is this Halloween?" I asked, because I seen no trace of goblins at all in my ensemble. Alice smiled weakly, "I guess it isn't. But you and Rose have been so nice to me since I got here, and I wanted an excuse to make you both...something nice. And besides, it was either this or the birds," she teased. I smiled and hugged her.

Rose came from the bathroom in the dress. She modeled the dress for me and Alice. I had to hand it to Alice: she was talented. It was my turn next, and then Alice put on hers. After the three of us dressed and had fun trying different experiments with our hair styles and makeup, we took pictures of the finished products with Rose's digital camera.

Rose left, with a garment bag in hand, around eight that evening. I had finished my homework at school so I was free for the rest of the night. I treated Charlie to a homemade chocolate cake. He was much appreciative, especially since we made him eat take out from the dinner for supper.

After I had showered and got into clothes more appropriate for sleeping, I crawled in bed with _Wuthering Heights _around eleven thirty that night. Just as I was drifting off, my phone rang. I rolled over and read the caller ID; _Unknown Number. _

I groggily flipped open my phone on and answered with the most coherent voice I could manage in my sleepy state.

"Hello?" There was light breathing on the other end, but no response. I sat up straight now, concerned. "Hello?" I asked again, my voice sounding more awake and more urgent.

"Bella, its mom," my mother finally answered me. Her voice had sounded strained and shy and a little shaken up. My own mother was scared to be talking to _me._ We used to have the best relationship, and now that she was talking to me, I fully realized that it was my fault that we had drifted apart so much, but the phone goes two ways right? She sounded different, and when I thought about it, it had to have been almost three years since I actually heard her voice.

"Hey mom," I whispered, my voice cracking - twice. I was trying hard not to cry. Hearing her voice brought on a whole different emotion that I hadn't expected. Then that damn song, _Chapel of Love, _played on and on in my head, and it brought on so many heart wrenching memories that I couldn't shake.

I hung up the phone and tossed it across my room and ignored the loud crash it made once it hit the floor. I then turned and started to uncontrollably sob into my pillow. I hated this; I was stronger. I knew I was. But why was I violently, and uncontrollably, crying into my pillow?

I cried myself to sleep that night, and surprisingly hoping for the Halloween party to hurry up and arrive so I could drink my problems away – at least for one night.

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**Again, I apologize for my writing and grammer errors and all that jazz. If you want to see what thier 'Sirens' outfits look like, you can access the link on my profile. Thank you for reading, and next chapter is going to be a big one so stay tuned for that. As alway,**

**~_DayDreamBeliever'93_**


	13. Manhattan From the Sky

**I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF IT'S RESPECTED CHARACTERS**

**Alright, I know I owe everyone about a thousand apologies, especially those of you who have favourited my story and took time to write reviews and what not. I have no excuse as to why this update is so late other then life itself, the demanding school work I face from my teachers (advanced classes get to me this time of year), family issues, Student Council and other activities. As you can probably guess I'm a very busy person. It's a miracle I even got this done. So Thank You all for your patience, I really REALLY appreciate it, honestly.**

**So here is Chapter 13, read and try to enjoy :)**

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Chapter 13: Manhattan From the Sky

Right from the start of my day, I was exhausted; I blamed my mother's late night phone call for that. Right at the crack of dawn, Charlie was up and making so much god damn noise. I didn't get why he was up since he had the night shift every year for Halloween anyway, but for some reason he insisted on being an early riser every year. Alice was up shortly after he was making even more noise then I thought was possible.

I woke up to a tear stained pillow. My mouth was dry and my hair was a hundred times worse then a bird's nest. So, comparing the lack of sleep from the night before, and the early Halloween day I had met, I was more then overtired.

School was just as long as my morning. Rose and Emmett were arguing about what time he should arrive at her house for the party. She had wanted him to be there early to help her set up, while he protested that she would only yell at him and tell him that he had done everything all wrong, so there was really no point for him to be in attendance.

This infuriated Rosalie more, so she told him that he didn't have to come to the party at all. Alice stepped in and said that it was Halloween, not a day to fight about something so ridicules. I rolled my eyes at her and blocked them out.

The only person that I had really wanted to talk to was Edward, and he was the only person that didn't even come to school.

When Alice and I pulled up in my truck, the Silver Volvo was no where to be seen. Emmett had gotten out of Rosalie's car a few parking spots down from where we had parked. I casually walked up to her BMW just like every other day. I tried to be conspicuous about everything when I approached Emmett and asked, "What? No Silver Volvo today?"

Emmett looked at me with a clueless expression on his face. I rolled my eyes and elaborated, "Where's Edward?" I had a feeling that I probably looked more worried and curious then I should have led on because Emmett looked at me suspiciously.

Of all the days he chose to be perceptive, he had to choose Halloween. He raised his eye brows and waited for what felt like an eternity before he finally answered me: "He stayed home. Apparently he and Carlisle had this...disagreement. So now, bad boy Edward is being_ rebellious_." Emmett explained with a shrug if his shoulders and walked off to grovel.

I was more then curious now; I was worried and at the point of freaking out. Yes, I needed Edward to talk to because he was the only person I felt that would help me feel at ease, provide me with comfort, and tell me what I needed to hear to help me get through this damn party tonight without making a complete and utter drunken fool of myself.

But, when Emmett told me of Edward's troubles, I wanted nothing more then to help _him_. I wanted to somehow be able to make _him_ at ease, to be able to put away all_ his_ fears and all _his_ insecurities. I needed to be there for him, whether he wanted me there or not.

My mother's phone call was at the back of my mind now. All I thought about was what Edward must have been going through, what he was thinking right then and there, and what he needed.

I watched up ahead as my four friends entered the school. None of them really seemed to notice that I hadn't moved from where I stood. I was frozen; I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I wanted to run to him; he shouldn't have been alone, especially now. But school was going to be hard to get out of, but then again it was Halloween, everyone skips on Halloween anyway, right?

Before I knew it I was sitting in the cab of my truck starting the engine. But, before I could pull away, there was a light tap on my window. Mike. To my dismay, my ex was standing on the other side of the door, looking at me with a skeptical expression. He motioned for me to roll down my window; so I did, despite my conscience yelling at me not to.

"Where are you off to Bella? Class starts in ten minutes," he asked while throwing in the obvious. I bit down my bottom lip, trying to think of a last minute lie. "Charlie called me and asked if I could go and watch Billy in La Push for the morning. Jacob is out of town for the night, and well, you know that Billy is practically family, so I couldn't just leave him alone," I said lightly with a shrug, trying to look innocent.

Mike smirked and slid his thumb over my bottom lip. I flinched away immediately from his warm touch. Mike chuckled, "Bella, we dated for almost two years. When you lie you chew on your lower lip, so I know for a fact that you are lying." _Crap, _he had me there. But what was he going to do, drag me inside till I sat down in my first period chair. _I didn't think so._

"I'm serious Mike, really." I lied out of my gritted teeth, making sure not to make any contact with my lips. Mike looked at me for a second before my phone rang. I jumped at the sound of it. I checked the caller ID, more then happy to break my locked gaze with Mike.

"See," I gloated as I showed Mike my phone. "Here's Jacob calling right now to check in on me," I sneered as I answered my phone, I was overjoyed at that moment and had never been more grateful to have Jacob call me before class.

"Jake!" I exclaimed into the phone, making sure that Mike's eyes were still on me. "Hey Bells, I was just wondering what your plans were for tonight?" he casually asked. "Really Jake, you were wondering that now?" I asked back. I know you were never supposed to answer a question with a question, but it was only Jake.

"Yeah well me and the guys were all going out tonight to a party on the Rez here, and I was wondering what you were up to," I had plans, but I had a feeling that I would be a lot more comfortable with the guys in La Push. But I couldn't back out on Rose and Alice tonight.

I covered the phone and looked back to Mike, "I have to go Mike," I said with a little bit too much hostility, but it seemed to work because he stepped away from my truck and let me back out without another word.

I spoke into the phone again once I was far enough that Mike couldn't hear me. "Yeah, no, sorry Jake, I'm kind of hosting this party tonight with Rose and Alice," I explained. "So, are there any girls going to this party tonight?" I hedged.

"Yeah there will be a few, but I don't think the party will benefit me at all in that department," Jake said with a sigh. I had no idea what Jake didn't see in him. He was great, kind, always there, and he was good looking, and I wasn't ashamed to admit that.

"What about Heidi? I had heard through a little birdie that she had this thing for you," I teased. It was true though, Emily had said that she had been told by Heidi herself that she thought that Jacob was the nicest guy in La Push and wanted to get to know him more. He should take up the chance, she was cute and definitely his type from what he had told me.

"Really?" Jake asked, hopefully. "Yeah, so go tonight, and try to get to know her," I was almost at the Cullen's place now and I was starting to get anxious. "Okay, well I got to go Jake. Have fun tonight, and call me tomorrow to tell me all about it." I spoke in a rush before he could answer.

I hung up the phone as I threw my truck into the Cullen driveway. The house was just as I had remembered it; big, white, and beautiful. Esme Cullen was always the gardener and her talent and consideration was definitely shown through her home.

There were a couple of pumpkins on the doorstep, but they were not carved. I glared at them as I remembered Alice bitching and moaning because I refused to carve the pumpkin this year, Alice being Alice went through with it anyway.

My mother always used to carve the pumpkins, and they were always the most basic pumpkins ever. Two triangle eyes, one triangle nose, and a smile that wasn't scary at all; in fact, it was the complete opposite of scary.

I marched up to the front door as I glanced around the yard. The black Mercedes was no where in sight; however the Silver Volvo was parked in the open garage. I knocked three times on the large oak door. There was no answer. I rang the door bell, still no answer. After awhile I knew where he was. If he wasn't inside there was only one other place he could be.

I ran back to my truck and jumped into the cab and quickly threw it back in reverse. I cut the corner of the darkened path and went straight to our water tower.

When I got there I slowed down and calmed myself. He had to be here. I turned off my truck and crawled out slowly as I entered the gate and looked up. He was there.

My heart fluttered at the sight of him. He was so perfect in all his glory, but at the same time, he was so broken. I had no idea what was going on through his head right then and there, but I wanted to reach out and help him; I wanted to be with him.

I cautiously climbed the rusted ladder and slowly made my way to his side. When I finally reached the top, he turned his head a slight fraction and looked at me from the corner of his eye. They were red, and he didn't say one word to me.

I didn't make a move to speak; I didn't try to say one word. I just took my place beside him and felt nothing but complete comfort. We didn't say a word; we didn't have to.

Just like he had done for me a few days before, I took his hand in mine and rubbed comforting circles on it with my thumb. He squeezed back and refused to let go; which was absolutely fine by me.

Finally he spoke: "What are you doing here?" he asked in a broken and weak whisper as he continued to look across the sky, not staring at anything in particular, but to me he seemed like he was searching for something that he couldn't find.

"I couldn't let you go through this alone," I answered truthfully. He didn't deserve a question for an answer; he only deserved the wholehearted truth.

He furrowed his brows and looked down at me, confusion plastered on his features. "How did you..." he trailed off unable to complete his thought. I shrugged and squeezed his hand back and continued to gaze across the sky.

The next thing I new, it was going on eleven thirty. Edward and I hadn't spoken since shortly after I had first arrived. I was comfortable just where I was. But, my damn stomach told me otherwise and ruined the moment. Edward looked down at me disapprovingly as he heard the rumble of my tiny stomach. Of all the times for it to make noise, it had to choose to do it then.

I sighed and closed my eyes hoping that he would disregard it. Of course he didn't.

"Bella, we should get down now. Maybe go to the diner to eat some lunch or something..." I could tell that going out into public was the last thing that Edward had wanted to do, so I compromised.

"Okay, we could eat. But how about, instead of going to the diner, I could make you something to eat at your place. I mean you live with Esme Cullen, there has to be something I can whip up in the fridge," I suggested, but Edward still looked doubtful.

"C'mon Edward, you know I'm a good cook, you've had my pizza." He laughed at my sudden optimism. I smiled at the sound of it. It had been so long since I heard it and I realized how much I missed it.

He finally nodded and gestured for me to climb down the water tower first. I started heading toward my truck when Edward stopped me by the sound of him clearing his throat. I turned to look at him, now I was confused.

"Why don't we take the trail, Bella? It's not that long, and it's a nice walk," he suggest with a kind and weak tone. I nodded and followed after him. "So, Bella, what made you come to the water tower?" he asked me after five minutes of walking. I didn't mind the silence at all really; it didn't get awkward till he started talking and answers needed to be given.

"You," I answered. He looked at me blankly, "Care to elaborate?" he asked, sounding a little annoyed after I didn't continue, so I did. "Well, when you didn't come to school today, I got little worried because I knew that you had that thing with Carlisle yesterday. So, when Emmett told me that you were taking a stand against Carlisle, I knew something had to be bothering you, and I just had a feeling that you needed someone to be here." I spoke each word slowly, hoping that he would get what I was trying to say, and I think he did because once I finished telling him what I needed to say, I saw comprehension flash across his face.

When we got back to his place he opened the door for me and followed in behind me to the kitchen. I stood in the middle of the room and twirled around to find him standing in the doorway studying me. His green eyes bore into mine and they instantly softened. I smiled back and asked, "So Edward, what'll it be? I can make a mean Mac & Cheese," I offered with what I hoped was a bright friendly smile rather then the tense one I felt like I was portraying.

Edward smiled and nodded. He helped me pull out all the ingredients that I needed to make our lunch and left me to cook. He had made his way upstairs and came back down after awhile and sat with me at the table while we waited for the stove timer to go off.

I wanted to know what was going on in Edward's messy mind. He took my hand in his and started playing absentmindedly with my fingers. I closed my eyes and enjoyed his touch as his scent replaced the smell of the Mac & Cheese in the room.

"You look so neat and tidy when I'm way up high. But I know your streets are lined with a fine mess inside, I wanna come down and walk around your mind," I sang aloud as I took a deep breath while Edward continued to play with my fingers.

Edward suddenly stopped, so I opened my eyes and seen him staring at me. "Pardon?" he politely asked me as he slid his hands away from mine. I sighed and looked at him, "What's on your mind Edward? Don't shield me out, I'm here. I just...need you to talk to me." I told him in a broken whisper. His eyes drifted from mine and stared down at his hands.

"Hey," I said as I placed my hand on top of his breaking his concentration. His eyes shot up to my face and he smiled at me though his eyes looked torn. It melted my heart and I couldn't help by beam back at him. "If fear was money, you'd be a millionaire," he harshly added and pulled his hand from mine and pushed off the table and stormed off up the stairs.

I quickly turned and watched him walk up the stairs. I wanted to run to him; I wanted to take back my words. I didn't want them to seem like I was prying, because I wasn't, I just wanted him to know that I was here.

It stung when he pulled his hand from under mine, it stung when he walked away, and his words stung because he was right. I had nothing but fear. Fear of growing up, fear of moving on, fear of letting anyone in because I could get hurt, and fear of letting my mother back into my life. And it only continued to sting as the timer for the stove rang on and on in my ears. Suddenly I wasn't so hungry.

**EPOV**

I slammed my door shut behind me, leaving kind and sweet caring Bella alone in my kitchen. My outburst wasn't directed at her personally, it was more toward Carlisle and his high double standards.

My visit with Carlisle at the hospital was far from pleasant. In fact, it was pure hell. From the moment that I stepped foot in Carlisle's black Mercedes everything had gone down hill.

The atmosphere in the car was too much for either of us to bear, but neither of us had made an attempt to break the ice.

When we stepped into the hospital doors, Carlisle was greeted by several different nurses. I definitely didn't miss the fact that all of them kept throwing him seductive glances. A couple of them even had baked him cookies and cakes and such. It disgusted me; didn't these women realize that Carlisle was a happily married man?

"This is my nephew, Edward." Carlisle had introduced me to one of his co-workers. The nurse studied me up and down and genuinely smiled at me. "Nice to meet you Mr. Cullen," but I cut her off before she could continue. "_Masen_- Cullen," I corrected her. She looked taken aback, but smiled anyway. "Mr. Masen-Cullen. My name is Catherine. I'm the ER's head nurse. Pleased to meet you," she said as she extended her hand out to mine. I accepted it without hesitation; Catherine was the only nurse here that didn't seem entranced by Carlisle. I liked her.

"Edward, you will be following Catherine around here for awhile," Carlisle instructed me, "I'll come look for you later," he said while he read one of the clip boards that Catherine had handed him.

Catherine was a woman in her mid forties, and seemed like she had a good head on her shoulders. My time with her was the best part of my time at the hospital. She gave me a lot of good pointers, but didn't over exaggerate, and she didn't go on and on about how great Dr. Carlisle Cullen_ really _was. She just did her job because she enjoyed it, and it looked like she practically ran that ER.

"So Edward, your uncle tells me that you might be applying to Dartmouth." She commented as we made our way back to the main lobby to meet Carlisle. "Yeah, I don't know about that yet..." I trailed off in thought. I didn't want to follow Carlisle's path, I wanted my own destination.

"Well, Dartmouth is a great school, but there are many other's out there too. Don't let Carlisle lead your path. Because, by that I have seen here today, you are capable of doing so much, and working in a hospital is only one of them," she said as she winked at me.

By then we had reached the lobby and Carlisle was waiting for me. "Ah Edward, how was your run in the ER?" he asked with a glint of hope in his eyes. I internally rolled my eyes and faked a smile just to humour him. "It was great. I have a lot to think about," I said, trying to give the hint that I had still hadn't made my final decision. But Carlisle didn't see it like that; he had to change my words around to what he wanted to hear from me. "Well, yes. It's a lot of good experience for you." _Yeah, okay._

Catherine left me alone with Carlisle, and he showed me to his office. He had a whole room to himself and a whole filing cabinet filled with reports, and a whole book shelf that had books and books dedicated to medical information. A brown leather couch sat on the wall opposite of his book shelf. And right behind his desk sat the diploma from Dartmouth.

I took a seat in the chair across his desk and looked around the room; a quick glance into my future. Carlisle called someone named Aro and they talked for a few minutes before he finally hung up the phone and looked over at me.

"I'm sorry Edward, but that was one of my co-workers. I don't know, but he wants to speak with me for a moment. I will be back, just make yourself comfortable." Carlisle left the room then, making me more and more uncomfortable in the unnecessary over sized office.

I regrettably got up and walked around Carlisle's desk. Right on top of his desk, under an assortment of papers, was the Dartmouth logo. I frowned down at the words printed down on what part of the envelope that I could read.

I pulled the paper out from where it rested, and what I read infuriated me. Carlisle had made a _very _generous donation to Dartmouth, and according to the letter, he had requested that I be accepted into early admission.

I gawked at the papers in front of me. This could not be possible. I had never thought that Carlisle would go that far just to get me into the school of _his _dreams. I heard Carlisle outside the office then, and I rushed to get the papers back the way they were and took my seat across from his desk.

Carlisle walked into the room with a shocked expression in place. He sat in his seat and smiled back at me. He laughed humorously, "You're never going to believe this Edward," he started after he finally managed to look sincere. "I got the supervisors position. That's why Aro was so upset on the phone, he knew," Carlisle looked so happy.

For weeks, I could remember Carlisle talking about this position, for weeks, and how he wanted it but thought that Aro was more suited for the job. It was only now had I realized how much Carlisle's job had really meant to him. He loved this job, and he took it very seriously.

But that still didn't change the fact that he was bribing the school just so I could get in. And on early admission no less!

I went with Carlisle on his final rounds of the day. He walked and checked the boards of in the patient's rooms, and talked with the patients before he left. A lot of them seemed to have a high respect for him, but others hadn't. But most of them all seemed to be pleased to meet me. And as before, I was introduced as Carlisle's nephew.

I hadn't talked to Carlisle at all; not since I found out on his startling secret. On the car ride home, Carlisle was more talkative compared to the ride over. His promotion seemed to put him in a good mood and he couldn't wait to share it with Esme.

I couldn't take it anymore. I was about to burst. "Edward, you're going to love working there as an intern this summer. That is if you don't get an early admission to Dartmouth like we both planned..." he went on and on, and I went off.

"I'm not going to Dartmouth Carlisle!" I shouted back, cutting him off mid-sentence and making him jump he was clearly startled by the tone in my voice. "What, don't be ridicules Edward. You'll get in, just like we planned, just like your father planned." Now I was mad.

"Carlisle, my dad never wanted me to go to Dartmouth, in fact he didn't plan on me going anywhere. He would have been satisfied if I got into a good community collage. This is you Carlisle. I'm not your son as you so graciously pointed out numerous times today. I am your _nephew, _not Emmett. Stop trying to force this on me!" I shouted out, exasperated after me rant. I had finally cracked; just like Bella had predicted. I let this build up for way too long.

"Edward," Carlisle began after I calmed my ragged breathing, "You will get into Dartmouth, just like we had planned. Everything will go smoothly, you'll see. I know you're stressed out now with your last year in high school and what not but it will all straighten out in time." He tried to sooth me, but he still wasn't seeing the point.

"Carlisle, I just don't know if I want to be a doctor just yet," I said in a whisper, but I'm sure he heard it. Carlisle sighed, "Well what do you want Edward!" he shouted, shocking me. Carlisle was never one to raise his voice at anyone. He was usually calm and peaceful. But right now, he was more intimidating then ever.

"I don't know Carlisle, but I just feel that I don't belong in a hospital clearing the board. That's you not me." I told him, finally being honest. "And, even if you paid Dartmouth more money then I am sure you and Esme both make in a year, I'm not going to attend Dartmouth next fall." There, it was out, and it was said.

Carlisle's hands loosened on the steering wheel, and he cleared his throat. "Edward," he finally started after what seemed like forever, "You will think differently when you receive that letter in the mail come the spring. You'll see, what matters to you isn't always what's best," he said firmly. By now, we were at the house, and Esme's car was parked in the driveway behind Emmett's jeep.

I scoffed, "You can't make me attend Dartmouth, Carlisle," I said. Carlisle smirked at me, "Well Edward, your parent's account was left all to you. That's your collage fund, but you see, you don't get to have that money until _I _sign the account over to you, permanently," he told be while avoiding my gaze.

"Esme won't let you do that. I am entitled to what is mine. She won't let you hold her sister's money against me." I growled back, holding in my anger. Carlisle nodded once, "We'll see what the future brings Edward, till then you won't see a dime."

I couldn't believe this. I was eighteen; I could be on my own if I wanted too. The only reason I stayed was for Esme. She was the only thing I had left that resembled my mother.

I climbed out of Carlisle's car and slammed the door behind me with all my might. I knew it was childish and immature, but hell, I was pissed. He had no right to hold that money against me.

When I got to the front door, Esme was standing in the foyer. "Why, Edward, I thought I heard you two pull up. How was your day?"

She asked, merely curious in a motherly fashion, but I just grunted with a nod and walked past her up the stairs. Esme turned to me with a confused and desperate look on her face. "Edward?" she called up to me when I was already at the door to my room.

I heard Esme shout with joy, and I assumed that Carlisle had informed her of his promotion. She had to have been proud of him. I was too, but his actions toward the whole collage situation erased any excitement I had felt toward him.

The next morning, I stayed in bed because I didn't want to run into Carlisle at all. Esme had left early for work because she had a presentation at ten o'clock that she needed to prepare for. Carlisle wasn't leaving till nine.

Emmett walked into my room around seven thirty. "What, no school for you today?" he asked me after I rolled over and tried to not acknowledge his presence. "No, and if Carlisle asks, I left early to work in the lab." I mumbled.

I felt the bed press down and I assumed it was Emmett taking a seat. He started bouncing up and down. I tried to ignore him but it was getting more and more difficult each day.

"You know," Emmett said as he continued to rapidly bounce up and down on my bed, irritating me in the process, "Your bed is much softer then mine. It would be ashamed if it were to break, don't cha think?" he asked as he started to make his bounces filled with more pressure.

I rolled over then and pushed him off my bed with everything I had in me. I surprised myself by catching the big oaf off guard and I managed to knock him off the bed. He looked up at me shocked that I managed to get him off the bed so easily.

I rolled my eyes and rolled over, turning my back to him and to the door. "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out," I said tonelessly. Emmett scoffed, "Probably the one time you will ever knock me down and that's all you have to say about it?" he asked, a little miffed. "I must say Edward, I expected more from you," he laughed as he headed to the door.

"Oh and Ed, don't let Carlisle get the best of you. Its how he works, keep fighting back and he'll cave. He's not as strong as he seems," and Emmett left closing the door with a light click. I turned and threw one of my pillows at the door where Emmett had once been standing.

After I had heard Carlisle exit the house and pull out of the driveway, I got up and took a quick shower. I wasn't in the mood to eat any of the left over food that Esme had made for Carlisle and Emmett, so instead of stopping at the fridge like I normally would, I walked right past it and headed out the back door.

The water tower was extremely peaceful at this time of day. The morning birds were out singing, the morning mildew was still fresh in the air, surprisingly for Forks, the sun was lightly peaking through the clouds.

I sat up there, just thinking. About how mad I was at Carlisle, how Esme had no idea about the bribe, or the account that my parents had handed over to Carlisle. Was there even an account? I had no way at all of knowing, for all I knew Carlisle could have been bluffing.

My mind wondered over to my parents. Had my father really wanted me to attend Dartmouth? As far as I knew, he would have been happy with whatever I wanted to do. But then again, I was only a child when they were taken away from me, he could have told Carlisle otherwise.

Had my mother wanted what they wanted? It was possible that she believed that I was meant to be a doctor just like her brother in law, or a lawyer like her husband, but she always new that I didn't belong in the courtroom; she had told me that plenty of times.

I had to have my own life, and she knew that I was only truly happy when I was sitting at a piano or writing my own compositions, or studying about some new mythology. I wasn't the medical or ethical type of person, and that's what she loved.

It was then that I noticed Bella standing at the top of the ladder. She was standing there, her bottom lip in her mouth, looking unsure of whether or not she wanted to move forward and sit with me. I wanted to tap the seat beside me to invite her over, but I also wanted her to make that decision on her own.

When she took the two steps to me and took her seat beside me on the ledge, my heart soared. Leave it to Bella, of all people, to know where to find me. But why did she come looking for me? I was at a loss, so when I asked her aloud I was startled with her response. How did she know what I was going through? Had it been that obvious?

So we sat, all morning. She kept me company and she made me sane. With her there, I didn't over analyze as much and I didn't give myself unneeded sympathy. She made me feel safe, and she made me strong. Stronger then I thought I could be.

It wasn't till I heard her stomach rumble that I realized that I had to get her down from here. Her being with me had made her neglect lunch, and truth be told, I was starting to get a little hungry too.

We walked back to the house in silence mostly, but that was fine by me, and I had a feeling it was okay by her too. But when Bella told me that she wanted to be there for me, that she knew something had to have happened between me and Carlisle, I couldn't help but feel overjoyed, but yet selfish at the same time.

When we got back to the house, I helped her prepare the Mac & Cheese. After I was sure she was fine alone in the kitchen, I headed up to my room and pulled out that tin container that was labelled _Masen. _

Inside, I pulled out different pictures of my parents. I just _needed _to see them. It had been so long since I really opened this box and studied its contents, but today just seemed to feel right.

The picture of my mother was too much for me to take. I threw the picture back in the box and tossed it across the floor of my room. It was too soon, but I needed to see them. They needed to give me strength.

When I walked back down to the kitchen, defeated by the fact that I couldn't just open the box and look inside, I sat with Bella at the table as we waited for the time on the stove to go off.

I took her hand in mine and started to play with her little angelic fingers. This soothed me more then her presence had this morning at the water tower. The little tin box upstairs no longer haunted my thoughts as Bella's scent whiffed though all my senses.

But when she spoke, I froze, because all the thoughts that were in my mind only a few minutes prior came flooding back to me. And I realized that I didn't have an answer for her because I didn't have one for myself.

"You look so neat and tidy when I'm way up high. But I know your streets are lined with a fine mess inside, I wanna come down and walk around your mind," she sang as her eyes remained closed and focused on something.

The lyrics from Kate Voegele's new hit song flooded through my mind. She wanted in, and she wanted to help me out. But I couldn't give her an answer, because I hadn't had a complete one for myself. So I attacked her with a song lyric from the exact same song just to hurt her, because she was hurting me.

"If fear was money, you'd be a millionaire," I quoted, and instantly wished I hadn't because I could see the automatic hurt in her eyes as soon as the word left my mouth. I pushed myself away from the table because I couldn't stand to look into her sad eyes any longer. They had held way too much hurt; hurt that I had selfishly caused her.

When I was sitting in my room, that little tin box was haunting me in the corner of my room yet again. I just stared at it.

I hated myself for not being able to stand one minute with it open. I was mad at Carlisle for everything he had done the day before. I was mad at my father for not giving me the answer I needed and leaving me with so many questions that were still unanswered, and I hated my self for hating him when it clearly wasn't his intention. But most importantly, I hated myself for taking it all out on Bella, who had only wanted to be let in.

A half an hour later there was a timid knock on my door. I quickly looked up and seen Bella opening my door and poking her head in my room, but not looking at me directly. She avoided my gaze completely. "I did the dishes and cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. The Mac & Cheese is in the microwave. I'm...I'm...going to head...home now..." she trailed off as she started to close the door.

But she couldn't leave me. I needed her to stay a hundred times more then I needed to open that damn tin box.

"Bella," I spoke up, making sure my voice was clear and loud enough that she heard me. She turned and walked back. "Yeah?" she asked, seeming hesitant to try to get me to speak again. "Don't go," I whispered. "Please," I pleaded, hoping that she seen how much I really needed her.

She stayed completely frozen at the door for a few seconds before she finally took two steps into my room and closed the door behind her. I motioned for her to come and join me on the bed, and she obliged, but took her time walking over to me, clearly cautious of her movements.

"I'm sorry Bella, I shouldn't have said anything. It wasn't my place to judge you," I apologized. She just shrugged it off. "No, it was my fault really. I shouldn't have tried to pry," she tried to take the blame off me, but I wouldn't have it. She was only trying to help.

"No, Bella you were only trying to help me." I smiled while taking her hand in mine again, trying to show her how much I appreciated it, because I knew words would never be able to express how much I really meant it.

"Its okay, Edward, I'm actually surprised that you managed to know the words to a Kate Voegele song in the first place," I laughed. "Yeah, well Esme listens to her every day when she's out it the garden, so I'm used to her music," I said with a shrug.

Esme was always playing her music loud. I considered it her mode of relaxation. Listing to her music while gardening, in a way it was her own mental sanctuary after a long day of work.

Bella was silent for a few moments. "Bella, see that box over there," I said while pointing toward the tin can that was sitting on the floor away from me. Bella just simply nodded and looked at it. "Could you grab it for me please?" I asked her, knowing that I would never be able to open it alone if she wasn't here to do it with me.

She nodded and released my hand as she got up off the bed to fetch it. When she came back she didn't open it, but played with the corners of it instead. "What's in here Edward?" she asked after awhile. I closed my eyes and swallowed as I tried to control my fear of looking into it_. If fear was money, you'd be a millionaire_, I repeated to myself in my head. No more being a coward.

"My parents," Bella just nodded, seeming to get where I was going with this. "It's everything I have left of them. My favourite pictures, my fondest memories, and my most prized possessions from the both of them," I elaborated as she continued to squint at the little box in her hands.

"I was wondering..." I trailed off hoping that she would immediately understand where I was going with this. I really didn't want to say it aloud. "You were wondering what?" she asked after awhile. Damn, she was going to make me ask aloud. "I was wonder if you would actually...open it with me." I said the last part in a weak whisper. I felt so weak and vulnerable on my own, but with Bella I felt strong.

"Edward, I'd delighted," she smiled as she started to peel the edges off the box. My breath hitched as the lid was finally ripped off.

Inside were my mother's compositions, pictures of her at the piano and her old famous recipes. There were pictures of my father and his old Cutlass. Pictures of me with him in the Cutlass, and instructions of the auto parts he used on the car. He loved that thing, and so did I, it was what we bonded with. Pictures of my parents together on their wedding day, the day I was born, and pictures of my mother and Esme.

I fought back tears as I stared at the happiness that both Esme and my mother had together. And I hated myself more for not realizing how much she really meant to Esme. How much her death had affected Esme too.

"Wow, Edward she's beautiful," Bella said in a breathless whisper as she looked at a picture of my mother. "Yeah she was," I agreed. She was almost identical to Esme, and it was from their side of the family that Emmett and I had gotten out genes.

"Edward is this your dad?" she asked as she continued to shift through pictures. I nodded, and Bella laughed aloud. "Well, I can see where you get a lot of your looks," she chuckled as she held up his picture next to my face. I smiled at her and took the picture back to study it. I guess I did look like my dad in some ways, but I always thought I was more like my mother.

Bella sat with me the rest of the afternoon looking through the box with me and listening to me talk about my favourite moments with them that I remembered. She eventually went downstairs and brought up the left over Mac & Cheese for me, which actually looked like all of it. Had Bella even eaten?

"So Edward, what's really been bothering you?" she asked in between bites. "I mean, I get that this is something that you needed to do, but why all of a sudden now?" Opening the box was way easier with Bella. I was able to enjoy sharing my memoires with her. And I loved that she just wanted to listen. The smile that she wore while I spoke never once faltered.

"I have been thinking a lot about what they would want of me, and I keep drawing a blank. I have no idea what they would want. Then there's Carlisle. He keeps pushing me toward Dartmouth and that is something that I really know I don't want to do. But there's Carlisle, telling me that it was what my father had wanted. He said that my father left money for Dartmouth, and that he wouldn't give it to me to pay for any other schools, unless it was Dartmouth, because that was what my father had wanted for me. Carlisle even went so far as to bribe the school to get me an early admission," I said the last part with disgust.

"Fuck him, Edward," Bella said while she scoffed. "Edward, I told you this all before, your parents would be proud of you no matter what. I think you should go with your gut on this one, okay? I mean so what if Carlisle refuses to give you the money to pay for it. Your smart enough to get the Windsor Scholarship and you know it! It's not too late to apply. Besides, if money's the only thing stopping you, that's not a good enough reason." She told me with her eye brows raised in disbelief.

"Don't go to Dartmouth if it's not what _you _want. Go because you want to, not because it's expected of you. You have to break free from your limitations, Edward."

She smiled at me and looked back down at the tin box sitting on the bed between us. "Besides, who says you have to be Carlisle's son. Just like he said, you're his _nephew, _and you're _her _son," she said while holding up a picture of my mother and placing in on my knee.

I knew she was right. She was right the first time she told me, and she was right again. "Thank you, Bella." She grinned and shrugged. "Now isn't it way easier just to let me in," she said with a wink.

I chuckled, "Yeah, easier said then done Bella." She rolled her eyes, "You only make it difficult Edward," she said playfully as she lightly punched me in the shoulder.

Her phone rang then making us both jump. He phone was sitting on the nightstand closest to me. Bella sighed, "That's probably just Alice looking for me. Can you pass me my phone," she asked as she placed her bowl of Mac & Cheese down on the bed.

I picked up the phone expecting to see Alice's name displayed on the Caller ID, but it wasn't Alice's name. "Rene," I read aloud. I looked up from the phone to see Bella's reaction, and she was frozen stiff.

She jumped up and snatched the phone from my grasp and looked intently down at her phone. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and pressed the call ignore button. She opened her eyes and placed the phone down in front of her.

"I honestly forgot about that," she mumbled under her breath, mostly to herself. Then it dawned on me. That was Bella's mother calling to make amends.

"Bella was that....your mom?" I asked after she shifted her position and moved the bowl of food far away from her. "Yeah," Bella said while nodding. "I don't know what she wants, it's just not the right time," she said in a whisper and looked toward the door.

"How many times has she called you Bella?" I asked after finally realizing that this hadn't been the first time that Rene had tried to contact her daughter. Bella just shrugged and looked up at me. "I don't know. She called last night, this is her second attempt," Bella said, sounding not interested at all, but I knew better. This was eating her alive.

"Bella, do you wanna talk..." I trailed off when she abruptly got up off the bed and turned to look at me. "Look Edward, I uh, I have to go. I have to pick up Alice and classes are let out in twenty minutes. And I have to walk back to the water tower to pick up my truck, then I have to go to my place and grab my dress and rush back to Rose's to get ready and set up for the party. So I better get going before an angry Alice calls. I'll see you later tonight?" she asked while she was already leaving my room and running down the stairs.

"Bella," I called after her, hoping that she would come back and face this. She helped me make so much progress today, but yet here she was running away from her mother who only wanted her to reconnect with her.

I got up off the bed and ran down the stairs after her, but by the time I reached the door, Bella had already gone.

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**Okay, now I know that this wasnt' the chapter that everyone was waiting for, however I will upload that one today too. It's just going under some revisions and should be up no later then sometime tonight. Yes, that's right I am putting my English homework on hold for once for my story, which I feel I have been neglecting lately. So stay tuned for that one which will be coming up soon, **

**Oh, and Reviews would be lovely too.**

**~DayDreamBeliever'93**


	14. 12:59 Lullaby

_**I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH TWILIGHT OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS**_

**Okay, well here is my second update of the night. See, I make up for not updating don't I? Two long updates in one night isn't bad at all now is it?? **

**Read and Enjoy! **

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_Chapter 14: 12:59 Lullaby_

**BPOV**

I sat in Alice's torture chair – motionless. My face was plastered in layers and layers of makeup, courtesy of Rose, and my hair was all hair spray, and my dress was perfectly fitted.

To me it felt like a lot just for Halloween, but then again this was a big occasion here in Forks, considering nothing out of the ordinary ever happens here. The most fun we have is Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter, Memorial Day, The Forth of July, and the Pancake Festival in February. So you can see why Halloween was a big deal here.

Rose said that she would be getting ready at her place, but Alice insisted that Rose got ready with us so we all could go to the party together at once.

So there I was, sitting in Alice's room – alone. I stared at myself in the mirror for about fifteen minutes till Rose came back into the room.

"So Bells, where were you today at school? We missed you today, and I was sure I seen you before first," Rose asked, trying to lay it on me easy, even though I knew she was dying of curiosity. Alice on the other hand couldn't have been more clueless.

I was parked in the same space I was when we first pulled in this morning. She didn't even seem to notice that I wasn't there all day because she just hopped into the passenger side of my truck and went on and on about the party and Jasper. Rose had to be more observant however. At least _she _wasn't worked up in a world around her boyfriend.

I shrugged my shoulders lightly as I played with the ends of my hair and stared at myself in the mirror, not really looking at all. "Emmett told me that..._Edward_," she sneered his name; it was almost as if it was hard for her to say his actual name. The two of them didn't have the greatest relationship.

Rose continued, "Wasn't at school today because of some disagreement with Carlisle. Do you know anything about that Bella?" She asked again after I refused to make eye contact with her.

She sighed and I hoped that she was giving up. "Bella, anyone in the right mind can see that the two of you are getting close, but just remember, he is wounded Bella. Not to mention you just broke up with Mike, so isn't it a little early to be thinking about getting together with someone." I had enough. I loved how Rose was looking out for me, but I didn't need to be hearing this. She didn't know Edward well enough to start saying that he was _'wounded.' _

"Rosalie," I growled as I turned from the mirror to face her, "First of all, Edward is no more _wounded_ then I am, secondly, my relationship with Mike was way over before it even officially ended. So don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do. Besides, I'm not thinking about anything right now, alright? So just...slow down with the whole...advice conversations for later," I huffed and turned back to the mirror and tried my best to ignore her.

Rosalie put her freshly manicured hand on my shoulder and bent down to whisper in my ear, "Bella, if you get worked up that much about something that _I _say, then something tells me that this means more then you are letting yourself believe," she sighed and patted my shoulder twice and stepped back to sit on the bed.

Just then Alice came prancing in the room with a wide smile on her face. "All set?" Alice joyfully asked as she rounded the corner. I forced a smile but didn't say anything aloud. "Yeah, but Alice, we only have half an hour to decorate. I _would _have had more time if I had gotten ready at _my _place," Rose complained as she sluggishly got up from the bed.

"Well then why aren't you moving faster? C'mon, c'mon let's go!" Alice gestured toward the doorway while jumping up and down.

I huffed and went to my room to grab my coat before I closed the front door behind us. Charlie was out in the front yard, just climbing into his cruiser. "Be careful tonight ladies. If I get called to go to your house tonight Rose, I won't be too happy," Charlie looked cross as he watched us walking to Rose's BMW.

"Don't worry Charlie, my parents are around for the weekend," Rose successfully lied as she opened the drivers door. "Bye Charlie, see you tomorrow!" Alice called as he jumped in the front seat. "Bella," Charlie called just as I was about to climb in behind Alice. I groaned, "What Dad? We're going to be late to our own party at this rate," I complained as I slowly made my way to my father's squad car.

"Bells, you're staying the night at Rosie's?" Charlie asked for about the millionth time. I sighed, "Yes, Dad me and Alice are both sleeping at Rose's tonight and tomorrow we will come straight home _after _we are done cleaning up. And yes her parents will be there so _if _the party does get out of hand they will close the place down. We know the rules dad, and we wouldn't dare break them,"

I sighed and turned away. "Goodnight Dad!" I called from over my shoulder and got in Rose's care before he could say another word.

We pulled into the Hale driveway and met a very unlikely sight. Edward's Shiny Volvo was parked in the driveway right in front of the Hale house. Rose looked at me in confusion. Yes, I had invited Edward, but the party hadn't officially started till later. Now I was confused, Edward didn't even want to attend the party in the first place, why would he show up early?

We all got out of the car without saying a word, Alice however had this devious knowing grin on her face. We walked up the front porch steps and cautiously opened the door. What I saw before me I would never forget. The main foyer and front room were decorated with streamers and a very wide assortment of Halloween decorations.

Music was already blaring from Mr. Hale's very expensive sound system in the great room. When I rounded the corner, I saw that the kitchen counter was displaying different Halloween like food.

Rose and I both gawked at the sight in front of us, but Alice angrily huffed and stormed off to the back door mumbling something about napkins. Rose and I both looked at each other and helplessly followed Alice.

"I told you guys a _wide _assortment of napkins with a wide range of colours. Why do all I see is _black?" _Alice viciously demanded as she pointed inside to the kitchen. Emmett rolled his eyes and stared down at the little angry pixie.

"Alice, its Halloween all people really see is black. Besides, nobody really care what colour that napkins are that are cleaning up their face after they puke all over the bathroom," he said as he shook his head and concentrated on making the light fixtures even.

It was only then that I noticed Edward standing on the other side. He was staring at me, but when I looked in his direction, he quickly looked away. It was only then that I immediately felt self conscious.

Jasper came walking around the house then holding up two plastic figures. "Hey guys, what you think Alice will prefer: the scary looking goblin or this weird looking dwarf?" he asked while holding up the two life size figures and analyzing the weird looking dwarf that he was holding in his left hand. "I don't know Jasper, she's standing right here, why don't you ask her," Emmet said with a chuckle.

Jasper's face reddened as he looked up and seen Alice smiling at him. "I don't know Jasper you choose," she said. Rose and I both exchanged glances, Alice was clearly testing him. Jasper looked puzzled and uneasy about his decision, "Umm...the dwarf?" he asked. Alice slowly shook her hear twice.

"Try again," she offered. "Yeah you _dwarf_," Emmett teased, "There's nothing scary at all about a dwarf," he said with his booming laugh. Jasper straightened up and walked around the corner to go find a spot for his goblin.

Later Alice informed us that she had asked Jasper and Emmett to decorate for us since she knew that we were going to be busy getting ready. She had also gotten Emmett to bribe Edward into helping.

I was in the kitchen preparing the rest of the snacks when Edward came back inside and stood at the door watching me. "Bella, we should talk about...your...phone call." He finally said after he stood still for what seemed like a whole hour.

"No, Edward we shouldn't. There's no need really. I'm not getting in contact with her, and I just want to enjoy tonight with my friends. So please, don't frustrate me tonight," I said calmly. I wasn't avoiding, I was just...not talking about it.

"But Bella," Edward tried to bring it up again but was quickly silenced by the ring at the door. We both jumped at the sound of it. "I better see the guests," I said tonelessly as I walked by to him, grazing his arm on my way by.

I beat both Alice and Rose to the door, who were both off somewhere with their significant others.

Before I knew it the house was filled with our entire graduating class. Edward and I hadn't said two words to each other since our encounter in the kitchen. Emmett was at the stereo having a hard time choosing between The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.

Finally after about twenty minutes he dedicated Something by The Beatles to Rose. It was sweet for Emmett, and all the girls at the party were envious; especially Jessica, who never had anything really dedicated to her.

"Bella," Jessica slurred after she was completely drunk, "Where did you get your dress, I love it. It's completely different compared to the vintage dresses you usually wear." I loved my thrift store clothing, they were classic and original. Unlike Jessica who had dressed in the most unoriginal Halloween costume ever: A witch.

"My dress is actually an official Alice Brandon design," I told her with pride as I watched her face fall. "Oh," was all she had to say about that.

I proudly smiled at myself and walked off to the kitchen to grab another drink. I chased down shot after shot thanks to the peer pressure from Emmett. It took all I could not to laugh at his whole knight in shining armour get up that Rose made him wear. I swear I nearly busted a kidney when she first told me, but holding in my laugh was even harder when I seen him up front in person.

Jasper was a little bit more in style as he dressed up like Neo from The Matrix. Alice seemed to be smitten with him, even though I told him that Neo didn't have blond hair. He said he didn't care, all he knew was that he was not dressing up in tights and armour like Emmett. And just like Edward had promised me, he didn't dress up at all.

After about my forth shot, I stumbled outside onto the back patio. I slowly staggered off to the vacant fire pit, this time I made sure not to walk too far off into the yard.

I thought of my mother and her phone call. I thought about Edward and his stories, of how Carlisle basically screwed him over, and how I was there for him today. It made me feel good, it made me feel important.

But when he asked to talk to me about my mother, I couldn't let him in just yet. It didn't feel right, and I'm sure he felt the exact same way about me, but I didn't have a box to whip out and show him, all I had was my heart, and my mental image of my father and my mother beating on each other before she left. He didn't have violent memories, his were all of joy and happiness; I didn't want to burden him with mine – not just yet.

"Penny for your thoughts?" someone asked as they took a seat in the other lawn chair that was sitting across the fire pit. Mike took a seat, far away from me, but still close that I could tell that he was sober.

"DD tonight?" I curiously asked him, Mike was never the one to turn down a good party – which the Hale parties always were – unless he pulled the short straw out. "No," he said while shaking his head, "I just saw how bad Jessica was getting and decided that I better be the responsible one out of the two of us."

That took me a little off guard. Did Mike really care about Jessica like that? "And besides, it's supposed to rain later, and I know how hard it is to drive drunk through the rain."

"I don't mean to pry or anything Mike, but are you two _officially _dating now?" I asked, hoping to god that he didn't think that I was at all jealous.

Mike nodded and a huge grin spread across his face. "Yeah, I really care about her. Don't get me wrong Bella, what we had been great, but with Jess it's so different. I know more about her then anyone else. She's let me in, she never let anyone in before," Mike stopped short; I guess he realized who he was talking to.

But despite everything, I couldn't help but smile for him. "I'm really happy for you Mike, and Mike, let's be honest here: we were terrible together." I said with a chuckle. "I mean think about it, we were always better as just friends. As a couple we fought constantly," I couldn't help but laugh now. In fact, I was hysterical. It took us almost two years to finally realize this. Mike eventually started laughing too.

After we calmed our laughing, I had to know. "Mike, do you love her?" I had seen the way he looked at her, even when they were fighting, and he looked at her with admiration in his eyes, something that we, or my parents, never had.

Mike nodded with this enchanting smile on his face. I didn't get it, to me; kids in high school don't really know what love is. Actually, I didn't really know that love even existed.

"Yeah, I think I do Brown Eyed Girl," Mike said with a dazed smile. "Don't you believe in love Bella?" He asked me after I didn't answer. "I don't know Mike; I never really grew up around love too much. I mean, Em and Rose is the closest thing to love that I have ever recognized, and to be honest, I don't think that's really love. We're still in high school Mike, love doesn't just appear out of no where randomly."

Mike shook his head at me. "I feel sorry for you Bella, I really do. Love is great once you find it. Trust me with that. But, if you can't forgive your mother for walking out on you, will you ever really be able to know what love is? Or if it even exists?"

I tear trickled down my face because I knew he was right. It was exactly why I hadn't been able to love him the way I should have, and it was exactly the reason why I wasn't able to open up to the caring and wonderful Edward Cullen.

"My mom called," I whispered to him. I wasn't even sure if I heard myself say it out loud, but he heard me. "What? Bella that's..." he was unable to finish his sentence when he stopped and looked at me. I was sure that my tears were just pouring out of my eyes, ruining Alice's makeup job, but I couldn't sob aloud. Not for her.

"Yeah, she wants me to move there and go to school at the University of Arizona, I think. But I don't know if I can ever face her after everything..." I whispered in a broken voice. I didn't know why I was pouring my story out onto Mike, because I really wanted to be telling Edward, but Mike already knew everything that there was to know about me and my mother. And he always listened no matter what.

"Bella it will be okay," he tried to tell me. But it was only then that I realized that Mike wasn't going to help me solve my problem, nor was Edward. No one could tell me what I needed to hear; only I could lead my way.

"Thanks Mike for listening to me. This is the part that I really miss about you. My friend Mike," I said while I furiously brushed my tears away and smiled at him.

"I'm always here Bella," he assured me, "I'll always be there to listen to my Brown Eyed Girl, we were always friends first, and remember that." He told me. I smiled and nodded once. I got up, grateful that the fresh air had somehow managed to partially sober me up.

I made my way back into the house, in a dire search for my jacket. After I finally found it in Rose's room, I frantically searched for Edward. I needed to talk to him. I needed to tell him everything that I had went through with my parents; I needed to explain to him why I was so scared. I needed to let him in.

Edward was standing by the stereo with Emmett and Jasper as usual. He had this bright and happy smile on his face. All the distress he had felt from earlier today was now gone, and I never felt more proud to be his confidant.

I walked up to him, careful not to trip and fall in my heels, and I tapped on his shoulder. He turned and looked down at me. His smile fell, but he didn't look angry at all; he looked concerned.

I stepped up on my tip toes and whispered in his ear, "Can we go to the water tower now?" I asked, hoping that he would take me up on my offer, just like we had originally planned before. Edward nodded a couple of times, and told Jasper that we would be right back. I was extremely grateful that he decided not to tell Emmett because I knew that both he and Rose were watching me and Edward like a hawk.

I took a seat in the front seat of his Volvo, neither of us saying a word to each other. I thought about what Mike had said to me not too long ago. And I realized what that conversation was for us: it was closure, something that we both really needed.

He needed to know that I was okay with him being with Jessica, and I needed him to help me see what I needed to do to let Edward all the way in. He needed to know my past just like Mike did, he needed to be my first call.

When we pulled up to the water tower, I suddenly wished that I had worn a much, much warmer coat. Alice's bright theory: dress for style, not warmth or comfort.

Neither of us spoke, and when we were suddenly sitting on the water tower's edge, I felt comfortable enough to start.

"So Halloween huh," I said with a click of my tongue. I tried my best to ease into the conversation that I was dreading, but I could tell that Edward was getting a little impatient. "So like in a classic Halloween tradition, minus the rotting our teeth part," I said with a grimace, "We tell scary stories," I saw at the corner of my eye, Edward's lips pull up. He was trying his hardest not to smile, so I continued.

"Well then Edward _Masen-_Cullen, got any scary stories that you'd like to share with me? Think you got what it takes to scare me out of my wits?" I playfully asked. Edward just crookedly smiled at me and said, "Isabella, if you're anything like your cousin back at the party, then you'll be extremely easy to scare." That intrigued me. "What?" I asked, "You think you can scare little ol' me?" I asked while pointing at me chest like a child.

"Oh, I don't know about that Edward, besides, what do you know about scaring people. You're as innocent as a mouse," I told him while trying to hold in my laughter. Edward scoffed and quirked an eyebrow at me, "Bella, you once told me that you were terrified of mice." _Crap,_ I forgot about that.

"Yeah, well I was...mainly talking about...rats...then..." I trailed off helpless, because truth was, all little crawling creatures scared me. Edward laughed aloud and smiled down at me. I joined in with him because I knew he could tell I was lying.

"Okay, I'll go first," I said after awhile. "This story is true, and I can tell from first hand experience that it was absolutely terrifying," here it goes; I was going to tell him everything about me and my mother and how we broke apart.

"Well, a mother, as beautiful and charming as any mother can possibly be was actually cold as ice and kept everyone around her at arms length. Umm...her daughter was the only one that she ever let in. In fact, she was her daughter's best friend," I was speaking in a whisper now, and I could tell that Edward knew I wasn't telling a tale anymore.

"One night, the young girl awoke to hear her mother screaming and shouting at the girl's father. Now, this little girl was always naive to the events that occurred in the world. She quickly jumped up and out of bed and ran to the door, when she threw the door open, she ran right to the kitchen to see what was going on, and she found her mother holding up a broken beer bottle to her father's throat," I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I continued.

"Her mother didn't notice her eight year old child standing in the doorway. Only when she heard the little girl's high shriek did she avert her eyes from her husband of nearly nine years. But the father quickly grabbed the bottle away from his wife and turned her around and pulled her arm around her back before she could try to attack him again. He placed hand cuffs on her wrists, despite the fact that she was hysterically crying and apologizing to him. The little girl watched as her father pulled her delirious mother outside of their home."

I was silently crying now as I remembered my mother's long hair whirling around her face as she cried and squirmed in Charlie's arms. I felt Edward's arm wrap around my waist as he pulled me closer into him. I leaned my head on his shoulder, but I refused to sob, not yet.

"The next morning," I continued, "Her father was asleep on the couch waiting by the phone. The girl walked off into the kitchen looking for her favourite cereal. She had prayed and wished that what she saw happen before her last night was a dream, but when she saw her best friend's mother pull up in her new Buick, the little girl suddenly realized that everything was real.

"It only got worse after that. Beer bottles were thrown every weekend, her mother was brought in and out of the clink every now and then, and her father was always on the couch. The little girl's dream life was slipping away from her slower and slower, and all an eight year old could do at the time was sit and watch it all go by.

"She found comfort from her best friend, but when she felt that it was too much to stay too close in town, she would often run away to her friend's house in the next town over. There her friends were always happy, always smiling, and always welcoming. But when she returned home, it was always the same; cold, unwelcoming, and hostile." I closed my eyes as the tears continued to fall, and as I remembered Jacob always being there to help me make it through the nights alive.

Edward stayed still as my head rested on his shoulder, once and awhile he would rub his hand up and down my arm, trying to comfort me, but I was way too wrapped up in my story to really appreciate it.

"By the time I was eleven, my whole family was everyone in La Push. I loved it there, and I hated Forks with a passion because of my parents bickering. Everyday was the same; day in and day out. But what hurt most was that I always knew that Charlie still loved her, despite everything that she had done to him. He still loved her." I didn't realize that I was no longer talking in the third person, but I figured it didn't matter anymore. My voice was already weak, and Edward already new I was talking about me.

"One night, my mother was packing up all her things. She sat me down and apologized for everything. She told me that she loved me, but was no longer happy with Charlie, that she wanted it to just be me and her, that we would be happy; just to two of us. She fed me this lie that her and I would move where the movies were made, where everything would be so simple, and where she would never ever need to drink again. And I, as naive as I was, believed every word she said. I mean, as a child you are told to believe your parents in spite of everything, so that's what I did.

"I went straight to La Push that night, to say goodbye to my family there. I told them I was moving and that my mother was going to let go and move on to different things. I said goodbye to Rose too, and we promised that we would always be friends no matter what. But when I got home my mother had unpacked all my stuff. I sat in my room, hopelessly confused, until I heard her and Charlie bickering for the last time.

"'She shouldn't go with you Rene. She has a whole support system here, her life is here, and for a long time her life hasn't included you,' Charlie told her. He sounded so firm, like he had already made the decision that I wasn't going to leave. Rene tried to argue back, but Charlie had already won their last argument. He told her that she would fall off the wagon again, and since he wasn't going to be there for her to hurt him, I was the one that was going to be taking all the beating. Rene gave in right away. I never knew if it was because she was tired of arguing, or if she really believed that Charlie was right, or if she just didn't want me anymore.

"The day she left was the hardest day of my life, but also one of the happiest. I didn't want her to go because I was still that naive little eight year old that believed that her parents could make it through anything, but at the same time, I was happy that she was leaving because that meant that we all could be happy again. But after she left me sitting in the kitchen with the radio on, I couldn't take it. I ran and I got my bike and rode all the way to La Push and didn't look back for a second."

Edward stayed silent, that's how I knew he was listening to me. He kept his arm wrapped around my waist protectively. It almost seemed like he was trying to keep me safe from all the harm I had already been through. I sighed and leaned further into his chest.

"I don't know why I hate her. I don't know if it's because she left me here all alone after she promised me, I don't know if it's because she left Charlie broken and frail. Everyday I have to watch him grow older and older by the second. She wore him away, and it hurts even more because I know that he still loves her. But I still don't know why I hate her so much."

A waterfall of tears streamed down my eyes and Edward pulled me closer to him. I turned my head into his chest and clenched my eyes shut. It had been a long time since I replayed these images, since I spoke aloud of my painful past.

But I still refused to sob. It was bad enough that my mother had my tears, but I was not going to make a sound for her. She didn't deserve that. She broke my family when she broke that bottle and threatened Charlie, she ripped us apart limb from limb.

Edward rocked me back and forth and didn't say a word. My tears slowed and eventually came to a finalizing halt. I reluctantly got up and pulled away from Edward to look at my watch. It was going on midnight and I had to get back to Rose's. I knew that the party wasn't over yet, but one of the other Sirens had to have noticed that I was missing by now.

"We should," I was cut off by the sound of my phone. I sighed and pulled it out of my pocket to read the Caller ID. _Rene, _again. I screamed aloud and wrenched myself up angrily and I threw my phone off the water tower with as much effort as I could master up. "Damn it!" I screamed aloud as I coiled away from Edward toward the tower. I refused to sob, I just couldn't.

Edward reached for me and pulled me into him. He placed his hand at the back of my head and held me close. He refused to let me go, and I refused to let him. I clenched my fingers to his arm that was holding me and tried as best as I could to calm my heavy breathing.

I sniffled and silently thanked Edward as I nestled my nose into his chest, taking in his scent and letting it sooth me. Once I was sure I was calm and strong enough to stand on my own, I nodded and looked up into his eyes.

Edward's green eyes looked unsure and concerned. He looked down into mine, questioning my next move. I smiled slightly to try to reassure him that I was okay, but he didn't take it.

"I'm okay," I tried to speak up, but it cracked and gave away my insecurities. "Bella, you're not okay, far from it actually," he said as he tried to smooth away the wrinkles that had formed under my eyes with his thumb.

"No, Edward, I meant I am okay for now. I-I just wanted you to know what haunts me, what holds me back. I want you to know everything." I whispered as I rested my forehead on his chest. I felt safe and protected.

Edward leaned down and placed his chin on top of my head and breathed in my hair as he nestled his face in it. I smiled brightly, finally feeling good; happy that he knew what had happened.

There was no more fear of not being able to let him in. Edward was different, he was strange, but yet his soul was beautiful. He understood and I knew that out of everyone I knew at that school, he was the one that understood what I was going through most.

I felt a light drop on my cheek, but I knew I wasn't crying. I looked up to the sky, and in a predictable Forks weather fashion, it had to rain and ruin the moment.

I pulled away from Edward and walked toward the rusted old ladder. I climbed down, and Edward followed behind me.

When I reached the bottom, I dusted off my Alice Brandon dress and straightened out my jacket. I turned and walked to go to Edward's car and get out of the rain, when I saw Edward looking on the ground for something.

"Uh, Edward, what are you doing?" I asked. Edward didn't look up to me when he answered, "What does it look like I'm doing, I'm looking for you're phone." He told me as he continued to search. "You don't have to do that really, I'll just come look for it tomorrow," I tried to counter with him, but he wouldn't stop looking. The rain was starting to come down faster and harder, soaking us both.

"Bella, it's raining, your phone will be ruined by then," I cut him off knowing why he wanted me to find my phone; he wanted me to try to talk to my mother once and for all.

"No, Edward. I need a new phone anyway, and this will be a good excuse for Charlie to get me one." I walked over to Edward and tried to pull on him and take him to the car, but he stayed still and didn't stop his search party for my phone.

"Bella, you need a phone. What happens if there is an emergency?" I rolled my eyes, "I can live without a phone Edward I'm capable of that much. Now come on, let's go," I said while I viciously tugged on his arm.

Edward growled and pulled back. "No Bella, I am going to find your phone!" He yelled at me. I staggered back and looked up at him confused. I had no idea why he yelled at me, and truthfully, it was kind of terrifying.

"Why, Edward? Why?" I screamed back at him, tears violently rolling down my cheeks again. "I don't need a phone. Alice doesn't need to call me she has Jasper now. Rose has Emmett, and Mike definitely won't be calling me ever again. I don't talk to Jess anymore and Jake is growing up so he doesn't rely on me anymore! My dad can't even look at me because when he does he sees my mother! And I sure as hell am not going to talk to her! I don't need a phone, no one needs me!"

I stopped and took several deep breaths and continued to stare up into his green eyes; getting lost in them yet again.

Edward looked infuriated; something that I had to have said must have bothered him. "I need you!" he shouted back at me.

The rain was pelting down on us and I was positive that my hair was flat and that my mascara was running down my cheeks now. All that could be heard was the rain hitting the Volvo and the water tower, and our frantic breathing.

I was silent. My eyes softened and my breath hitched. Edward closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he whispered, "I need you," but it sounded like he was mostly talking to himself.

I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck and lightly pressed my lips to his. I held still, telling him all that I needed to in my embrace. He held still for a moment then wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly there.

His lips worked with mine as we started this easy rhythm. His lips felt so good and soft against mine. Our rhythm was paced, and slow, we didn't have to rush it because we both knew what we had went deeper then that.

I pulled away from him and rested my forehead on him. I goofy smiled was coming on, I could feel it, but I didn't want it to show yet. So I kept my serious face on and placed my lips to his again.

When he pulled back this time I smiled. Edward smiled and looked down at me, "I found your phone," he whispered against my lips. I laughed lightly and gave in, "I think I'll need that then won't I?"

Edward nodded and pulled away from me so he could go and grab my phone. He picked it up and held it up for me to grab.

All of a sudden everything seemed trivial. Rene, Charlie, Jake, Alice and Jasper, school, Rose and her assumptions, Carlisle, Edward's undecided future. Everything was going to have to wait because all I saw was him and me. All that mattered in that moment was the two of us.

I think he felt it too because he bent down to kiss me again before he opened his passenger car door for me. "We should get back to the party," he said while he pulled out of the driveway and started to head down the old winding road.

I shook my head, "No, I don't think that I want to go back to that," I didn't want to meet Rose's guarded gaze and Jess's evil stare.

"Okay, do you want to go home?" he asked, sounding a little disappointed. "No, not really..." I dragged on. I didn't want to go back to the home where all the awful events took place and I didn't want to replay them over and over again. "I kinda just want to sleep," I finished my thought from before with a light simple shrug.

Edward didn't answer till we reached the end of the winding road. I could tell that he was contemplating which way to turn. "Um, well Carlisle is out at the hospital. He was X-raying the candy tonight. We could sleep there if you want to..." Edward tailed off, clearly trying to show me that it was my decision and that he wasn't forcing it on me.

"Yeah, sure, I really tired." Edward turned left toward his house and didn't say a word the rest of the way home. He turned on the radio and we both laughed when _Monster Mash _was playing. What a typical Halloween song to play.

Neither of us spoke of the kiss we shared earlier. I was more then happy about it, in fact, I was ecstatic. However I was skeptical about what he was thinking or what he felt. He had kissed me back after admitting that he needed me, but I still couldn't help but worry that he would regret the whole thing.

I knew I was over analyzing the whole situation, but I am a girl.

When we pulled into the Cullen driveway, Edward parked in the garage. I had only been in their once before when Rose was working on Emmett's Jeep. I remember that Em was getting all defensive over the piece of metal and kept ragging on Rose and telling her that she wasn't doing it right.

I internally laughed at the memory and followed Edward inside the house. He led me up to his room, and I tried to keep quiet knowing that Esme was probably sleeping. "Esme isn't home either," he informed me as we passed one of the bedrooms of the house, which I guessed was hers.

"Oh?" I asked with a hint of curiosity in my tone. "Yeah," Edward began, "After she figures all the Trick-or-Treater's are done, she usually goes to the hospital and volunteers with Carlisle," he finished with a shrug.

When we reached his bedroom door, Edward lightly swung the door open and I followed. I had been in his room before, but it was only then that I had felt really awkward being in there. Edward went right for the stereo and turned on his iPod.

Kings of Leon's _Closer_ filled the room and I took a seat on the bed. Edward still hadn't said anything, so I just lied down and closed my eyes, letting the beat of the music calm my nerves and ease me asleep.

I felt the bed go down and I opened my eyes to see Edward lying beside me. He looked content as he closed his eyes and listened too. I rolled on my side and looked up at him. Edward's heavy eyelids opened as he rolled over to stare back into mine.

Neither of us said a word, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I was really tired, but I felt really unsettled. Where did we stand?

Edward leaned in and answered all of my silent questions when his lips touched mine. They were soft at first and lightly danced along mine and I quickly matched his pace. When he pulled away I smiled but kept my eyes closed.

_Blue Veins _by The Raconteurs started to play, and I slowly nestled closer to Edward and he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me there. His breathing slowed and I guessed that he was falling asleep. "You looked really beautiful tonight Bella," Edward told me, really speaking to me for the first time since the water tower.

I opened my eyes and looked into his; they gave away no real emotion. "It was all Alice and Rose really," I explained. Edward was fighting back a smile, that much I could tell, then he shook his head, "No, it was definitely all you."

I blushed and averted my gaze from his and stared into his chest, making sure that he couldn't see my eyes. "Thank you," I finally replied.

"Bella, I've wanted to kiss you all night. Ever since I saw you, Alice and Rose show up, you definitely stood out the most..." he trailed off. I blushed again and closed my eyes, trying to hide from him for the first time ever.

I tried my best to forget the fact that I just told him my reasoning for despising my mother and focus on the words he was telling me. "Edward, that's..." I stopped and listened to the music that was coming out of the speakers. It was absolutely beautiful, and I couldn't stop listening to it. It's melody was light and beautiful and it filled the room.

"Edward, what's the title of this song?" I asked because I just had to know. I noticed how Edward's face fell and how he looked away from my eyes. He was hiding now too.

"Edward?" I asked again, this time I placed my hand on his cheek, willing him to tell me. Edward's eyes looked into mine now, and they looked torn. "Uh...It's one of my mother's personal compositions," he told me. I looked up at him and immediately understood why he didn't want to tell me.

I closed my eyes and listened to the rest of the song, not once removing my hand from Edward's cheek. When the song was over, I felt a tear escape my eyes as I looked up at him. Edward's eyebrows had formed a crease, and I understood then that he really needed me. He needed me just like I needed him, and I wasn't ever going to ever let go.

"That was beautiful Edward," I told him. He opened his eyes, and he looked lost and alone. That song had to have brought up some memory and I was determined to make the pain go away for him so it can be replaced and remembered as a happier one.

It was only then that I had noticed Edward's arms tighten around my waist. He was holding on for dear life, and it startled me. His breathing was ragged and his eyes were shut, but there was a sign of distress there.

I moved closer to him so my body was completely flushed with his. I tilted my head up and kissed his neck, I held my lips there for a moment. I felt both of his arms wrap around me as he held me close to him. He cradled my head in his chest.

When I removed my lips from his neck, I told him what I had to get out, what I needed him to hear, and what I needed to say: "I'm not letting go Edward, I promise I will never let you go."

I wrapped my arms around him tightly and fell into a nice sweet and blissful slumber.

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**I apologize for all the grammer issues that came up with**** this chapter (and the last chapter too for that matter), I didn't really revise, I kind of just wanted to get it up and posted ASAP. **

**Please Review, I would really appreciate some kind of feedback, **

**~DayDreamBeliever'93**


	15. New

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_I DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS_

Alright, before we begin, let let me just thank all of my readers that have reviewd, alerted, favourited and sent me varios PMs regarding this story. You guys are all awsome and I love you for it. I can not begin to tell you how sorry I am that this update took so long. But, with life, weddings, concerts, school finals, summer jobs, and my overall personal life, I just couldn't find the time to keep up.

This chapter isn't the greatest, and it isn't the longest either, but it is an update for those of you who have waited. The idea actually came to me when I was at the _No Doubt _concert the other week and the songs did give me a lot of inspitation, hence the chapter's title. So with that being said, and before I go to bed for the night (I unfortunately do have work in the morning), I am giving you this chapter and I can't wait to see what you guys think about it tomorrow when I check in after work.

So please read Chapter 15 with and open mind and enjoy it for what it is.

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_**Chapter 15: New**_

**EPOV**

When I awoke the next morning, I was surprised when I felt another warm body next to mine. I had replayed the events of Halloween night over and over again in my head until I assured myself that it was all a dream. Bella ignoring me at the party, Bella was telling me her _real_ story at our water tower, Bella screaming out how she really felt; her lips on mine, and her scent and breathing coaxing me to sleep. All of it couldn't have been real.

But as I awoke to the sleeping beauty there beside me, I knew that it was all real. Everything that I had forced myself to believe was a dream, had actually occurred. She was here, and by the way she was clutching onto me told me that she didn't want to leave just as much as I didn't want her too.

I squeezed her back and just basked in the fact that she was there with me. That she had spent the entire night sleeping next to me in my bed, in my room, in my uncle's house, and in Forks, Washington of all places.

When I had first moved to Forks all those years ago, I had never thought that something could ever make me feel at ease and make me feel finally complete as much as she did. I was broken when I lost my parents, and I knew it killed Esme. So when we moved to this town I made an effort, but nothing ever stuck.

And now I knew why; I never really acknowledged Bella Swan for who she really was. I had thought that she was just another air headed cheerleader type, but now I knew better. Bella Swan was so much more. She was my lab partner, she was my friend, and more importantly she was above all, my saviour. I had no idea what I would do without her, but I sure as hell knew that I never wanted to find out.

It wasn't until a loud buzzing noise erupted into the room did Bella finally stir awake. She groaned aloud and rolled over and forced herself impossibly closer into my chest, trying to block out the noise.

"I knew we should have just left it there," she mumbled into my chest. I chuckled at her optimism. "Well Bella," I offered, "I told you people needed you."

Bella only groaned louder and mumbled something else into my chest. "What was that?" I asked her politely as she buried her face deeper and deeper into me. "Nothing," was all she grumbled before she turned away and reached for her phone.

By the time she pulled it off of my night stand the phone had stopped ringing. "Alice," was all she said before she turned back to me and let her head rest on her pillow.

"What time is it?" I asked her before she threw her phone back over her shoulder. "Umm...eight," we both groaned and I listened as Bella cursed Alice aloud. "Like seriously though, who the hell wakes up so early if they were partying the night before?" Bella complained as she clenched her eyes shut from the rare morning Forks sunlight that managed to seep though my wide window. "Your cousin apparently," I answered after Bella opened her eyes and started back at me.

"What are you looking at there Mr. _Masen_-Cullen?"She asked emphasizing the name Masen after she caught me staring down at her. I grinned and shook my head. "Nothing, just you," I told her. Bella rolled her eyes, "Oh is that all, here I thought you seen something you liked," she teased and looked away before I could catch her blushing.

I laughed and grinned down at the utterly absurd girl, of course I had seen something I liked. "I did," I told her rolling my eyes because it was clearly obvious, but she always seemed to stay clear from the obvious answers that were right in front of her.

Bella looked back up at me and grinned again, "Edward, you really need to get out more often if I'm the only one that you eyes for," she said teasingly again. She really liked playing games with me. I laughed at her and wrapped my arms around her torso and pulled her closer.

"Believe me Bella, I have been out, and you are the only one that I have ever noticed," I informed her, enjoying the blush that filled her cheeks even more. "How could I not notice you," I continued, "You fall everywhere you go Bella, I'm sure everyone has noticed you," I chuckled at her as her eyes widened and she gaped up at me.

"Hey," she defended herself, "I'm not clumsy; gravity just doesn't like me." I laughed as I kissed the top of her head and hugged her close. "Okay Bella, whatever you say."

We stayed silent for a moment, but we both enjoyed it. A strand of Bella's hair had fallen into her face, and she looked up at me through it. I felt my lips pulling up into a smile at the sight of her. I wanted to brush the hair away from Bella's eyes, but I felt it would be to forward.

"Um...Edward," Bella started, "about last night," she cleared her throat and averted her gaze from mine. She looked so vulnerable, as the deep crimson blush only continued to flood to her cheeks. I smiled to myself as she fought with what she wanted to say.

"I don't know," she whispered more to herself. My smile automatically faltered and I wondered what she was so unsure about. I placed my index finger below her chin and lifted her chin up so I could get a better look at the emotions that were running cross her face. I seen about twenty different thoughts cross her features at once, but I couldn't be sure what one was most accurate.

Neither of us bothered to say a word as we just stared at each other and listened to the other's breathing. My eyes locked on hers and I never wanted to look away. But Alice seemed to have another idea in mind because she called Bella's cell again.

Bella closed her eyes and rolled over and got up off the bed and took her phone into my bathroom without saying another word. I rolled over and looked out the window at the November mildew that formed on the Forks evergreens, rubbing both my temples with my fingers. _Why did this have to be so damn complicated?_

I mentally cursed Alice myself when Bella came out of the bathroom searching for her shoes. "I have to go," she explained as she frantically searched. "Alice and Rose want to start cleaning up before her parents get home, and then they want to go out for breakfast at the diner after we're done," she continued as she found them under my bed.

Bella took a seat at my computer chair as she tried to fasten her shoe on over her heal. "Um...You're welcome to come along...if you have nothing better to...do," Bella offered, not once meeting my eyes. I looked closely at her and smiled as the blush that started to flood her cheeks yet again.

"I mean we could really use your help, Emmett and Jazz are probably passed out in their own vomit somewhere so we both know that they will be useless when it comes to lifting heavy furniture," she rambled on when I didn't answer her previous question . Her cheeks had yet to still fade to their normal colour.

"You don't have to feel obligated to go or anything, I mean it's not like Rose won't force Emmett to straighten up at all, we're not totally helpless-"

"Bella, I'd love to help," I abruptly cut her off, desperately wanting to kiss her again. And if I hadn't thought it was possible, Bella blushed impossibly more. "Yeah?" she asked again. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to..." she staggered.

It was weird. Bella and I had been talking for a while, and this was the first time that we had ever once felt awkward around each other. It was all new to us, but at the same time it was still us.

"Bella, really it's no problem," I assured her. Bella released a breath that she had been holding in and smiled me that heart wrenching smile that only made me feel light headed. _God, what am I turning into?_

"Well, we better go before Alice calls back," she said as she got up off the chair. "Yeah that might be best. Hopefully we can make it past Carlisle," I opened the door to my bedroom and led an awkward Bella out of my house. Well, halfway.

Esme and Carlisle were in the kitchen making breakfast. From my point of view I was being perfectly stealth, Bella on the other hand had to walk into the table in the hallway. The noise of the table hitting the wall shook the entire first floor of the house, and I couldn't help but bust out laughing at Bella's frozen stance.

She turned and glared at me as I continued to laugh at her before Esme and Carlisle came running around the corner. "What was that, Edward? Are you okay?" Esme asked me as she ran over to us from around the corner. It wasn't until she spotted Bella did she stop and look back and forth between us, me laughing and Bella frozen as a doornail.

Carlisle stopped at the corner and leaned against the wall and took in the scene in front of him. Now although nothing had happened between me and Bella, I could only imagine how bad this had to have looked in his eyes.

After Esme had soaked it all in she smiled her kind, loving, motherly smile and extended her welcoming embrace to Bella. "Bella Swan," Esme greeted, "It has been so long since you were last here, what was it: Emmett's thirteenth birthday?" she asked as Bella uncomfortably shifted her weight. Esme hadn't realized that Bella was here no more then a week and a half ago working on biology.

"Yeah, I guess it has been that long. I'm sorry Mrs. Cullen, I've just been really preoccupied the last couple of years," Bella offered as she backed away from Esme's hug. "Yes, I'm sure you're parents separation has been very hard on you," Carlisle stepped in.

I threw him a glare as I looked back and forth between him and Bella. I saw one spark of pain reach Bella's eyes, but that was because I knew her. She had been doing this for years, convincing people she was okay, but I knew better. Carlisle's comment brought back memories that stung her – comments that stung her _deep._

"Yes well, it isn't easy on any child," she shot back. "I mean you should know about loss right _Dr. Cullen _I mean you do work at a hospital. People come and people go all the time, right," she sneered his title and continued to glare at him under her eyelashes.

She shifted her gaze from Carlisle and looked back up to Esme and smiled sweetly again, all traces of anger had vanished. "Well, Mrs. Cullen I must be going, but I would love stay and catch up some other time," she smiled as she walked back toward the door.

"Oh of course dear I would love that too, but please call me Esme," my aunt smiled back at her, she had clearly missed the hostility that was just exchanged between Bella and Carlisle.

"Yes of course. Edward I'll wait for you outside," Bella smiled at me and my guardians one last time before she gracefully closed our big oak door behind her.

Once she was gone, both Carlisle and Esme turned to stare at me. Both of them wore different expressions; Esme's mouth was half open as she gaped at me, Carlisle on the other hand stared at me with one eyebrow cocked, his way of showing disapproval.

"Okay, now before you both start jumping to conclusions let me just say that nothing happened. Bella and I were talking at the party last night, she didn't want to sleep there because of the noise and she didn't feel like going home and making so much noise while her dad was just getting off the night shift. So, I offered to come here, and if it's any consolation I slept on my couch," I lied through my teeth.

Esme bought it, but Carlisle still looked at me with traces of heavy doubt in his eyes.

"That's fine Edward, I just hope you were a gentleman to her," she smiled sweetly. Esme came up to me with a knowing smirk on her face and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm going up to shower and get ready for the day. Oh and when you see Em, tell him I'm going to be speaking with him," Esme stated firmly as she went up the stairs. She had to have known Emmett wasn't home – again.

After Esme went back upstairs, Carlisle looked at me very disapprovingly as he pinched the bridge of his nose and clenched his eyes shut. Clearly he wasn't as pleased as Esme had been with my new found friendship in Bella Swan.

"What are you doing Edward?" Carlisle asked with a frustrated sigh. I rolled my eyes. "Well Carlisle, I'm going to take Bella out for breakfast, then I'm going to drop her off and bring Emmett home so he can have his _talk _with Esme," I gave him the obvious while he stood in front of me.

Carlisle rolled his eyes, "No, Edward what I mean is, what are you doing with Chief Swan's daughter?" he asked me. _What did her being the chiefs daughter have to do with is?_

"We're friends Carlisle, what's exactly wrong with being friends with the chiefs daughter?" I asked, still not comprehending Carlisle's disapproval.

"Nothing Edward, I just think that you should be aware that when this ends," _when this ends, thanks Dr. Cullen, "_ one of you is bound to be hurt, and if I know Chief Swan, he won't be too pleased."

I was aggravated now. _Way to ruin my good mood Dr. Dick. "_Carlisle, nothing is going on between me and Bella," although I had hopes that something was going to happen, I told him that just to reassure him.

Carlisle looked up at me and scoffed, "What do you think will come out of this Edward? Do you think that she's just going to end her football game lifestyle and drop everything for you? Face it Edward, the girl has standards and you're not her type," he firmly informed me of his opinion and it hurt, _bad._

I had that thought running through my mind all night, but it vanished when Bella looked at me when she woke up this morning. Her eyes gave away that there was something more for her there, and I didn't want to lose that feeling. But Carlisle reminding me only made that feeling worse, and ten times stronger because someone else believed it, so it was possible.

But I reminded myself that it was only Carlisle speaking to me. He was only trying to hurt me, break me down so I would believe him; believe him and everything he was telling me about Dartmouth. He was trying to get to me, and god damn it, it was working. _But what if he was right, what if I was only Bella's rebound? _I angrily shook the thought out of my head and put my mask back up for Carlisle. _He couldn't be right._ He didn't know Bella like I did.

"Carlisle, maybe you should focus more on your new job position and let me live my life. You're not letting me go to the collage of my choice, but you at least give me this one thing," And with that I stormed out of the door and went with Bella to meet everyone else.

_Yeah, my fucken parade was officially rained all over._

**BPOV**

When I awoke next to Edward everything had felt so surreal. I still couldn't believe it happened. I wanted to wake up to him hugging me everyday, but when that little pixie of a cousin had called and disturbed our slumber, I wanted to die.

I told him – _everything._ Secrets that I had kept bottled up inside me since it had happened, my reasoning for my feelings, my reasoning for my doubt and my fears – _everything. _He knew, it was all out in the open, and I wanted nothing more then to crawl in a hole and die. Yes, it had felt good for him to know, but now I couldn't hide myself behind my charade; he knew it all, and he could call me out on it.

I felt strangely vulnerable and exposed. But at the same time, I felt free to explore our new found friendship and I didn't want to waste a single moment of it.

He was playful and more carefree with me. We were joking together, laughing and I enjoyed it. I was more myself then that I had been in a long time. At school I played the part, with Alice I was forced to do what she wanted, and with Rose and Charlie I was hiding my true feelings. But with Edward, I could be the little girl I was when my mother was still here. And I loved that feeling.

Just when I was about to speak up and tell him my views on our newly discovered relationship, my phone rang again. _Damn, that pixie!_

I groaned and got up off the bed and took my phone with me into the washroom so I could have some kind of privacy when Alice decided to yell at me for leaving the party through the phone.

"Hello?" I reluctantly flatly answered, and just as I had thought, Alice started screaming at me through the phone. _Oh great, here we go. _

"Bella Swan!" she screamed at me, "Where the hell are you? Why haven't you answered your phone? Where did you go last night? And why didn't you tell me? You have no idea how worried I was this morning when I couldn't find you anywhere," Alice cried at me through the phone. _Jeez, she didn't realize I was absent till this morning, thanks for taking notice Ally._

"Look, I'm sorry okay but I'm fine. Edward and I got to talking last night, then the next thing I knew we were bored so we decided to take off, and I didn't want to go home so we came to his place and fell asleep. Before I knew it your little annoying right tone was going off in my ears. I lost track of time," I spoke so quickly so Alice didn't interrupt me.

"Okay, first of all: are you insane?! You don't take off from your own party, especially with a guy that you don't know. Second of all: how dare you get bored at one of my parties! And thirdly: did you not think to call or tell someone before you left?!" Alice scolded me.

"First of all Alice, I do happen to know Edward more then you think, and...Wait, Alice we told Jazz that we were leaving, didn't he tell you?" I asked, suddenly regretting my words because I realized that I had just gotten Jasper into serious trouble. "No, he didn't," Alice spoke through her gritted teeth.

I held the phone away from my ear and turned away from it, bracing myself for what was to come next. "_Jasper Hale," _I heard Alice's shrill voice call on the other side. Then something must have clicked in Alice's brain.

"Wait, Bella, Edward? As in Edward Cullen in my history class? That Edward Cullen?" She asked me. I rolled my eyes, "The one and only," I heard Alice's questioning in her silence.

"What happened, Bella?" she finally asked me. I sighed; _I knew these questions were going to start reoccurring after this._

"Nothing at all Alice, we came here, talked, and fell asleep telling scary stories. There, is the Spanish Inquisition over?" I asked her, I was beyond annoyed. Nothing happened, so there was no reason for her to go a _parental _on me.

"I suppose," Alice said slowing, contemplating her answer. I still sat there in the bathroom, waiting for the real reason as to why Alice called.

"Alright Bella, now that I know where you are, we are over here trying to clean up this mess as fast as we can before Rosie's parents are do back within the next few hours. It would be nice if you could help us," she told me, clearly still holding in her anger from earlier.

"And after that we are all going to go to the diner for some breakfast, we promised Emmett that we would if her worked hard. You should come, and bring Edward along with you," I nodded to myself, "Oh and Bella, we will talk about all this later," she warned me.

"Alright Deputy Alice, I'll be there," I sighed and hung up the phone before I exited the bathroom to face Edward again.

***

After our awkward encounter with Mrs. Cu – Esme – and _Dr. Cullen, _Edward was extensively quiet. I figured that it had something to do with Carlisle. He had to have said something to upset him, but I wasn't quite sure what it was, so I didn't bring it up.

When Carlisle mentioned my parents, I can admit that I was upset. I didn't understand why he would go there. I carefully put in place my mask again and discretely insulted him. He deserved it after all the shit he was putting Edward through. In my opinion, he didn't deserve my respect.

We didn't say one word to each other, even after we arrived at the Hale Residence, and this worried me. We had been talking fine before then, what had changed? I mentally cursed Dr. Cullen in my mind for ruining Edward's good mood.

Rose came running over to me as soon as we pulled up. She took my hand as soon as I stepped out of the Volvo and pulled me toward the house with her. I looked back at Edward and I took note of the grimace that he now wore. Something was really bothering him and I didn't like it. It really worried me.

Something was just not the same from what he had been like this morning. He was laughing then, he was carefree and well...joyful.

Now he was a hard shell, and he wore a strong mask that blocked me out. The wall that I had worked so hard to break down was now up again and I had no idea why. _What had got to him?_

"Bella," Rose exclaimed, snapping me out of my thoughts. I focused my attention to her, and to my surprise she looked... irritated. "Bella, didn't we have a talk about this," she spoke to me under her breath, dragging me toward her garage.

"Bella, I thought that I told you it's too soon. Bella, are you even thinking clearly, you just broke things off with Mike; you're too fragile to be in the right mind right now. I know I don't have the greatest relationship with Edward over there, but he deserves better then to be your rebound," she told me in a quick rush.

I was pensive. Was Edward really just my rebound? He couldn't have been, I was sure that I had felt so much more the just a 'rebound.'

He meant more to me then that, after all, I did tell him everything between Rene and Charlie. No, he was much more then a rebound, because what I felt was new, and different. I hadn't felt this before with Mike, not even close. It was more of a comfort and security thing with Mike; with Edward, it went way deeper then that. I could _feel _it.

Now I was outraged with Rose. I knew she was just trying to look out for me, but seriously, why was she trying to ruin this for me. Couldn't I just be happy? Mike was with Jessica and I had Edward, well at least I thought I did but with the looks I was getting from him were making me think otherwise. _What did he think we were?_

"Rose, thanks for looking out for me, but it's not like that. There's something else there, for me anyway. I told you before, I know what I'm doing, so just give me some space, and let me figure this out on my own," I let out a sigh of frustration and stormed into the house were the others were cleaning, leaving Rosalie alone in the garage.

Edward was helping Jazz take down the lights that were hanging in the foyer, and Emmett was helping Alice take down the goblin that Jazz had hung up the day before. I started picking up the pieces of garbage that were lingering around in the kitchen.

"Well, another Halloween come and gone," Emmett commented in the extremely quiet and tense room.

Alice and Jasper knew that Edward and I had been together the night before, and Rose was clearly annoyed by it, but Emmett was still clueless to the matter. I was more the happy about that, because if Emmett knew what was going on between me and Edward, who knows what he would do. Joke about it, get protective over me, because despite how we talked to each other, we were close and I knew he looked out for me no matter what; I was like his little sister in some ways.

But would he side with Rose, or would he side with his cousin Edward and tell him to take a chance on me? I had come to learn to never underestimate Emmett, he was a big bear filled with surprises; and bears with surprises were never a good thing.

Rose just grunted and continued putting the music back in order on her dad's shelf. "To be perfectly honest, I'm glad it's over," she said as she slammed a CD back in it's place and throwing a glare in my direction.

I was a little thrown back; I hadn't expected Rose to be that offended by what I had said. We had never once said anything with hostility to each other. Well except that one time I spilt my chocolate ice cream all over her white Chanel pumps when we were nine. Seriously though, who wears Chanel shoes to the park? Actually, the better question is: who buys there nine year old daughter pumps at all, let alone anything Chanel?

I hadn't thought that she would be mad at me for becoming friends with Edward, why was it such a big deal to her?

"I don't know Rose, I mean it's the only holiday where you can be a bitch and not get judged. But then again you're always a bitch so no one judges you for it at all anymore," Rose turned to face me, clearly pissed off at me, and she threw her father's copy of The Rolling Stones album _Love You Live _on the floor.

"Be careful Rosalie, you don't want to decrease daddy's music collection do you, how would you explain to him how it broke in the first place?" I asked her. I knew I was egging her on, but I couldn't stop myself. I didn't know what had come over me. We never fought, not like this.

"Oh, well that wouldn't be a problem Swan," Rose said as she stalked over closer to me, "I'll just explain to him how your fat ass hit the shelf and knocked everything over," she spat out at me. I could see Alice at the corner of my eye; she was getting nervous as she shifted her gaze back and forth between us.

I glared back at her and smirked. "Yeah I'm sure he'll believe it, after all, it's not like you're skinny anorexic ass is capable of it," I shouted back at her just as viscously as I would have if I was talking to Lauren. I knew it was wrong when I said it, and that I had stepped way over the line, but I couldn't stop myself. Before I knew it the words were out and Rose was coming at me with wailing arms.

I went for her head on but Emmett grabbed Rose and held her back from me. It was probably a good idea too because in a fight between me and Rose, I was sure to lose.

Rosalie was yelling as Emmett held her tightly up in his arms, "Down girl, what's gotten in to you?" he said jokingly with a chuckle as she struggled to get loose in his arms.

Jasper and Edward watched in shock from the foyer and Alice came running to my side to hold me back from jumping at Rose once Emmett decided to release her.

"Why did you push her, Bella?" Alice asked me as she tugged my arm toward the kitchen away from all the havoc in the living room. I huffed as I pulled my arm from Alice's strong little grasp and stormed off out the back door.

"I don't know, I'm just tired of her telling me what to do all the time. I've had enough of everyone trying to rule my life. I love her to death, but sometimes she just drives me insane. She expects to god damn much from me," I started telling Alice, but before I could continue Rose pushed open the back door and stormed over to me; she was clearly still pissed.

I could faintly hear Emmett calling from the kitchen, "She got loose! She got loose!" I jumped up from where I was sitting on the patio chair, ready to face Rosalie head on once again. "What the hell is wrong with you two?" Alice screamed as I tried to push my way past her toward Rose.

The truth was that I had no idea what had come over me, the adrenaline had taken over my body and pushed me over the edge, and put all the emotion I had bottled up for years into play. All the gloves had come off and they weren't making another appearance anytime soon.

Edward came running out from the house and behind Rosalie and stood in front of me trying to calm me down. He wrapped both his arms around my shaking body and whispered in my ear, "Breath Bella, just breath."

I took several breaths till my breathing was back down to somewhat normal. I knew I wasn't going to be able to settle anything in this state, so I pushed Edward off me and took him by the hand and led him toward the front yard.

I had left the four of them standing on the back patio looking all confused, Emmett especially since he had no idea that Edward and I had gotten so close. He watched the two of us walk away together before he asked, "What the hell was that? And what the hell is going on _there?" _He asked as he gestured toward the two of us walking away hand and hand.

No one answered him, and Rose just snorted as Edward and I made our way back to the Volvo. I screamed aloud in frustration and threw my hands to my hair and continued to scream. Edward ran his hands through his own hair and gave me my space as I wondered around and around the Volvo.

"Why doesn't anyone think this will work?" I finally asked, expressing my views on the matter. It didn't make sense to me. I thought it was a great idea, I felt everything that you were supposed to feel. _Was it really that bad of an idea?_

"I don't know," Edward whispered, understanding what I was talking about. I looked over at him, and he looked nervous. I didn't want to have this talk now, not when I had screwed up so much with Rose. Not now. Today had just started and everything was already going all wrong.

"Maybe we should just wait...a few days...before we figure...this," I motioned between us, "out. I have to talk to Rose about this before we define...anything," I suggested. I didn't want to, it hurt me to say that, but it had to be done. I had to clear my head before I jumped on anymore bandwagons, even though this was a band wagon that I really wanted to get on.

Edward looked hurt for about a split second before he composed himself again. He simply nodded and went to get back to his car. Before he left, I had to let him know that I was still there, that I still wanted something to come from us.

"Hey," I spoke just as he was opening his door, and I ran over to him. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest. Before he could say anything else, or get away from me, I stretched up on my tip toes and lightly kissed his lips with my own.

Edward was hesitant, but when I didn't remove myself from his lips, he took my bottom lip in between his and deepened the kiss. I don't know how long we stood there in the Hale driveway, but I knew that I didn't want to break the kiss, because once I did, we would go our separate ways.

Edward pulled me closer to him and I wrapped my arms securely around his neck and fastened my fingers in his bronze locks, making sure that he didn't get away. I needed him to know that I didn't want this to be our last. So when I broke off the kiss I rested my head on his chin and took in his scent one last time.

"I don't want this feeling to go away, don't let it go away" I whispered, Edward just nodded and kissed my forehead. "I should go," he told me and my face fell, "and you should go inside and square things off with Hale," he chuckled. I smiled half-heartedly and nodded once.

"Yeah, if she'll even look at me without wanting to pry my eyes out," Edward smiled sadly down at me, and I wanted nothing more then to know what he was thinking right then and there.

"Alright, well I guess I will see you at school on Monday," I nodded again, afraid that my voice would betray by cracking if I said one thing. Edward looked at me one last time, then got in the car and drove off back to his house.

I watched as he drove down the driveway and back to the Cullen Mansion before I turned around and reluctantly made my way back to the house. When I looked up I was surprised to see Rose standing on the front porch all alone, watching me.

She didn't look pissed anymore, now she looked thoughtful, and possibly regretful. I looked back up at her but didn't say anything. Rose just slightly smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, and turned to walk back into the house.

I took a deep breath and hung my head down and followed her. Jazz and Emmett were finishing taking down the lights and Alice and Rose were sorting through the CDs.

Jasper looked up at me and smiled apologetically for his sister and went back to taking down the lights. Emmett looked at me, still confused by the whole thing then finally something dawned on him because I swear I seen a light go off in his head.

"Edward just left didn't he?" he asked me. I just nodded sadly and went to pick up the rest of the plastic cups that were scattered here and there. "Damn that guy, he left me here again!" Emmett cursed aloud. I didn't look up when I heard Rose answer him in a sweet and not sour tone, "It's alright Em I'll drop you off after breakfast."

I looked up and Rose just shrugged at me and continued her task from earlier. _Breakfast, oh joy._

* * *

**Okay, so there was the long awaited Chapter 15. Again, I'm sorry for the length of it and my delayed update, and I'm not going to make any promises for when the next chapter will be up, but I can say that it will be before the end of the month. I'm trying to have it finished before July 30th, because that is the date of the Coldplay concert that I will be attending, and I don't want to go there knowing that I still have to update. So there you have it, and you all know the drill. Please review, they just make my day, and I will be needing them after work.**

**Thank you again to all the Readers and Reviewers, you know I love you ;)**

**~DayDreamBeliever'93**


	16. Rich Kid Blues and Revelations

**I OWN A STUCK UP COCKER SPANIEL, MY VERY OWN COMPUTER, AND ALL THE ONE TREE HILL SEASONS UP TO DATE. BUT I HOWEVER, DO NOT WON TWILIGHT.**

**First of all, I owe you all about a million apologies for this being so late, not to mention all the apologies I will owe you when you find about a million grammical errors in this chapter**, **seeing as how I didn't spend too much time going over this chapter (because I really just wanted to get this posted ASAP). So here it is, a couple months later then planned, but its here none the less. **

**Read up, enjoy, and I'll see you all on the flip side...  
**

_**

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Chapter 16: Rich Kid Blues and Revelations**_

**BPOV**

We finished cleaning the rest of the house within the hour, and arrived at the diner sooner then we had all predicted – pre quarrel of course.

None of us had said a word to one another, and I had a feeling that the little debacle between me and Rose had something to do with it. _Okay maybe the term debacle was an understatement, but whatever._

Emmett made Rose clean up the room on the complete opposite side from me, while I tried my hardest to stay calm and steady my erratic breathing as Jasper and Alice remained silent and worked the _no-mans land _areof the house.

Once all the cups, banners and streamers were cleaned up, and music was put away and in proper order, we all went outside without a single glance at one another. That's the thing with our close nit of friends; we just knew when something was enough, when we were all ready to go, and when it was smart not to say anything at all. Emmett was even smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

It was then that I thought of Edward. I wished that he could be here with us going to the diner. I wished Rose could see the innocence between the two of us, I wished that Rose and Edward got along, I wished that my world wasn't split into two, and I wished beyond wishing that there was no reason for having to have false hope at all.

When we left for the diner, without a word spoken, we all hopped into Rose's newest addition to her car collection, the beautiful white Audi Q7.

Again not a word was spoken, the radio didn't play, but the windows were all fully rolled down; all of us desperate for the air to relieve us of the strong tension.

When we finally pulled into the diner parking lot, Emmett was the first to break our long code of silence. And boy was I happy that he _finally_ did. It was only a matter of time till _he, _out of all of us, cracked.

"I'm going to order the mile high flapper-jack staircase," he boomed as he raced himself to the door like a little third grader. Jasper shook his head and ran to catch up with his friend, undoubtedly more then happy to get away from us.

Alice cleared her throat and was suddenly beaming. "Oh, guys did I mention that my father's coming here for Thanksgiving?" she remembered as she bounced up and down on her toes from excitement. "I was going to tell you guys this morning but," she cut herself of, causing her smile to immediately falter.

"That's great Alice, I know you were really missing your dad," I answered her with what I hoped to be just as much enthusiasm as she had had when she presented us with the news.

Rose smiled and nodded in return, agreeing with me on something for the first time today.

"Really Alice, that's awesome. My parents are running off to Jamaica for Thanksgiving, so it's just me and Jazz and the cook for holidays. Good to know you're father cares enough to travel across the world just to eat turkey with you," she smiled sweetly, but there was something else behind it.

Rose marched back to the car and leaned against it, avoiding our questioning gazes. Alice looked hurt, confused, and worried all in one. She started to make her way toward Rose to confront her, but I stopped her by placing my hand on her shoulder. This was something I had to do. Alice knowingly nodded, and headed in the direction the boys had just gone.

Rose was glaring down at her shoes as she kicked dirt around with her feet. Something was eating her alive, and I had a feeling that it was more then her parents, more then my growing friendship with Edward, and more then the facts that she was giving us.

I had known Rose all my life. Through thick and thin, we made it through everything together, that's why it scared me so much to know that she was keeping something from me, something that was obviously killing her from the inside out.

I cautiously made my way up to Rose, hoping against hope that she wouldn't lunge and try to claw my eyes out with her perfectly manicured nails, or try to attack me with her new _Prada_ handbag.

When she didn't move or spare me a single glance in my direction, so I knew I was safe – for now.

Rose looked down at her _Chanel_ heels and smirked. She sniffled, but still didn't look directly at me. "Remember when we were kids, and I got mad at you for ruining my _Chanel _pumps when you acted like it was no big deal," we both laughed at the exact same memory that I had earlier that morning.

"Yeah, you were so mad; we were so close to actually coming to physical blows," I reminded her with a sigh, even though I knew that it wasn't at all necessary because she remembered – it was crystal clear to her.

We both laughed at the memory till my curiosity got the best of me. "What's going on Rose?" I asked after what felt like an eternity. Rose just shook her head, and when she looked up, I could see that she was fighting back tears now.

I stood back, waiting for her to answer me. "I just...I don't see anything coming from it Bella. At least, not what you want to come out of it anyway," she looked away from me again and continued to stare down at her feet.

I had this gut feeling that that wasn't what she wanted to tell me, but what she said had set me off again, reminding me why we were all so tense before.

Rose was being irrational about my relationship with Edward. _Hell, _it wasn't even an official relationship and she was already criticising it.

She stood in front of me, keeping her eyes locked on her feet. Her breathing was heavy and uneven, so I knew something was really getting to her.

I sighed, finally having enough of our silence, "Rose, why is it such a bad idea that Edward and I are friends? I know you don't like him, which I never really understood, but what's so wrong with him? Really, we haven't done _anything," _I asked her, finally approaching the real subject while trying to control my irritation, but I was failing miserably.

As I insisted that she believe me, Rose just gave me this look as if to say, _Yeah right, Swan._ It was clear that she believed me as much as she believed Jessica Stanley didn't stuff her _Wal-Mart _bras every morning.

When she still refused to give me an honest and heartfelt answer, I stiffened and turned my back and started to head into the diner. I was fed up; until I heard Rose's _Chanel_shoes stomp and run to catch up to me.

"Wait up, Bells." She said as she roughly tugged my arm and forced me to turn and face her. What I seen shocked me. She looked down right scared, worried, and regretful? That was definitely not a familiar emotion for Rosalie Hale.

"Look, I can see that you care for him, and he cares for you, but the thing is….shit….I'm worried about you Bella," she sighed as if that was all she had, that she was done explaining herself. I rolled my eyes and sharply turned again before she continued. If that was all she had, then I was done. I wanted more answers. "Bella, he didn't see you _before," _she painfully whispered after I started to walk away again.

I froze in my tracks as the past and painful memories flooded my mind. My stomach clenched and twisted at the thought of it. I was not going back to that. _I would not. _

But why would she think Edward would do that to me? He wouldn't hurt me _like that_. He couldn't.

"He won't do that to me, Rosalie. He _wouldn't," _I defended him. Rose just looked at me skeptically.

"Rose," I started to say, but she cut me off again. "No, Bella. No one else saw you that way. Alice and Emmett weren't there. Jasper was there, but it didn't hit him as bad as it hit me. _I _sat at your side that whole time Bella, no one understands what that was like for me," she spoke up about the _incident _for the first time since it happened. I never knew she felt that way.

Her eyes started tearing up, and she looked back at the ground again before she shot her look up at me again, and furrowed her brows in aggravation.

"Bella, you were in a coma for a month, practically on your death bed – "

"Oh c'mon, Rose. Don't exaggerate," I groaned, it wasn't as bad as she was putting it.

Rose rolled her eyes and she glared at me, "Don't sugar coat it for yourself Isabella, you know I'm right," she angrily shouted as she pointed her dainty finger at my now heaving chest.

Tears were threatening to spill over her eyes. "You didn't see you. No one else saw you, it was just me Bella. I was at your bedside day in and day out for a month till you woke up. It killed me to see you like that," she cried, tears were running down her face now, ruining her makeup, which to my surprise didn't seem to faze her at all. She was too far gone; her emotions had fully taken over now.

I was crying now too. I had never known she felt this way. The summer that I had spent in the hospital was the hardest of my life, and I didn't even really remember it. But as Rose's tears streamed down her cheeks, it was only then that I had seen the full extent of how bad everything was. I suddenly felt selfish and inconsiderate.

"Rose," I whispered as my voice cracked, I didn't know how to continue.

I stared at her, both of us standing in the middle of the parking lot of the diner, crying and sharing our silent tears with one another. Luckily this was Forks, so the lot was right dead.

Rose fiercely whipped her tears away from her eyes as she continued, "You've seen my parent's Bella. I mean seriously, who abandons their two children on Thanksgiving!" she screamed now, finally letting it all out. Her built up tension was being released, and I could see it escaping her from the depths of her eyes to the tips of her fingers.

"Bella, you're the only family that I have. I seriously don't know what I would do without you. Yes, I know I have Emmett and Jasper, and Jasper will always be there, but will Emmett? He is going to make it so far in New York, and I'll just be there constantly holding him back," she continued to cry as I stared at her in shock. _Did she really believe that Emmett would just drop her like that?_

"Rose, Emmett is hopelessly in love with you!" I tired to reassure her, but it didn't seem to work. "I know he is, and that's what scares me most," she whispered. Now I was confused, why would his love frighten her so much?

"I love him, Bells. So, _so _much. So what happens when we move to New York and he meets a beautiful bombshell that just sweeps him off his feet? I couldn't bare it if he left me, because then I would be all alone. My parents - or lack there of - can't wait for me and Jazz to be off on our own, and I know when it does happen that they will just buy me a hot new car model that's on the market, because that's all they've ever done. Jasper will be, well only god knows were, and Alice will be in Paris," she sighed as she took a much needed breath.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This was Rose that was talking to me; overconfident, proud, reliable and tough Rosalie Hale. She had insecurities just like everyone else, but I still didn't see how Edward and I factored into this.

She thought that I wouldn't be there. Was it possible that she thought Edward would take me away from her? Or, did she think that Edward would hurt me so much, like I was before, that I wouldn't be capable of anything anymore? She was being utterly ridicules.

"Rose, you're never going to be alone. Emmett loves the _shit _out of you. In case you haven't noticed, you are his one and only beautiful bombshell. And I love you too, I'll never abandon you Rose, you have to know that; you of all people I will not let slip away from me," I said, trying to get a smile out of her, and it surprisingly worked, even if it was just a little lopsided smile. "Trust me Rose when I say that he'll never leave you," Rose looked at me with panicked evident in her eyes.

"How can you be sure?" she asked in a mere weak whisper.

How did I know this? Well the answer was simple. I didn't have a doubt in a single bone in my body that Emmett didn't loved Rose; it was there in his eyes. Every time he looked at her, every time they shared a private conversation, all the times he simply held her hand. Love, admiration, and affection poured out of every part of his soul with a simple caress to her cheek. Rose didn't see it, but I sure did. And I hoped to hell that someday I would find that for myself.

"Because, he looks at you the way my mother _never _looked at my father. With every simple touch, he displays it to you and the world to see. You're his whole world Rose, trust me when I say that he's not letting go anytime soon."

Rose smiled and wound her arms around my neck and squeezed me tight. I was crying; my mother _never _once looked at my father with love. She never even said the words love, not to him, not to me, not to anyone. I often wondered if she even had a big enough heart to really love anyone.

Rose pulled away from me and whipped the remainder of the tears that had fallen from her baby blue eyes. "I'm sorry I got on your case about Edward, Bella" she apologized, "I just, I couldn't bare to see you in so much pain and suffering again. Bella, I meant what I said when you're my only _real _family. I would suffer till the end of time if something happened to you. That one month was enough. That's why I was more then happy when Alice decided to move here, I had someone else to help watch over you," she honestly told me.

This was the first time that we ever really mentioned or spoken about what had happened. The truth was that Alice didn't move here because she didn't want to go to Paris, in all honesty, Alice moved here _because _of what happened. She freaked and asked her father if she could stay with me, to help me..._cope. _

That's why she was so happy her father was coming. She missed him greatly. Alice had always had the best relationship with her father, but despite that, she left it all, along with a life in Paris, for me. And I loved her for it, more then she could ever comprehend.

Rosalie continued, "Look Bella," she took my hands in hers, her breathing somewhat steady now, "I don't want to see you go through that much pain again. Edward will inevitably cause pain in some form that will break you down sooner or later. I'm just asking that you put your guard up, well, at least semi-up. Please," she begged me.

I knew why she was asking it, and yes it was selfish of her to do so, but I knew where this was coming from. I nodded once and told her, "Alright Rose, but we're just friends right now who are taking it one step at a time. There's nothing to worry about, I promise."

Rose smiled half heartedly; I think she realized that was the best answer that she was going to get out of me.

"Well, I pretty hungry," I told her as I motioned toward the diner where we could see Emmett, Alice and Jasper sitting at a table by the window, "You're angry and testosterone filled energy all bottled up and directed at me, really takes a lot out on a girl," I teased as I threw one arm around her shoulders.

Rose scoffed, "Be careful there Swan, I just pulled back on the reins the hardest I could to hold her in, don't push her to her brink again," she laughed as she sped up and started racing me for the door.

"Come on! My mile high flap jacks are waiting," she shouted as she took off in her Chanel pumps. _She and Emmett were really meant for each other, _I laughed internally to myself as I went inside to join my friends for the remainder of breakfast.

"Oh, guys," Alice exclaimed as she seen us walking in. "We need to go shopping this afternoon. It's November now, so we need to be prepared with November clothes," she beamed as she bounced up and down in her seat.

Rose and I shared a glance before we both took our seats. Emmett threw his arm around her shoulders. Alice sat respectively beside Jazz, but not close enough to indicate to me whether or not something had happened between the two.

"Alice, November clothes? What's wrong with the fall clothes that I have now?" I asked, wondering where she was really going with this.

"Yeah, we need more, for November," she stated and scoffed as if it was obvious. Rose just shrugged and accepted it, so I knew that I really didn't have a choice.

"Wait, so you guys are taking off later? What are me and Jazz supposed to do?" Emmett complained as he looked down at Rose. Alice answered for her, "I don't know Em, make an evening out of it. Have a guy's night, go bowling, go golfing, look at born in your creepy basement. Do whatever the hell you want, but we girls are going to Port Angeles after breakfast and there's nothing you can do to about it."

Alice huffed as she shoved a little piece of grape fruit into her mouth.

Emmett simply gaped at her and sighed in defeat. No one stood a chance when they were up against Alice Brandon.

***

After breakfast, the three of us went back to my place, because I still had to get ready. So I quickly showered, got dressed, and wrote a note for Charlie before we were out the door.

On our ride to Port Angeles, Alice gushed about her and Jazz all the way over, until something processed in her memory.

"Bella, what are you doing with Edward Cullen?" she asked as she popped her gum and looked at me though the rear view mirror.

I averted my gaze from hers and looked out the window to my right and silently corrected her by mumbling, "Masen," under my breath.

"What," she asked, but I only responded with an "Oh, nothing. We're just friends Alice. I know that's hard for you to believe, but it's true," despite how much it bothered me to say that Edward and I were just friends, I knew we really were at this point. I shrugged before continuing, "I don't know, he just gets me."

I could feel Alice's stare bearing into my forehead through the mirror but I didn't look up again, and she didn't pry anymore.

I spent the rest of the ride wishing I could hear Edward's happy and musical laughter in my ears.

**EPOV**

I sat on my bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling, playing the events that went down earlier at the Hale house over and over again in my head. Bella's remaining scent on my pillows filling all my senses and distracting me from my main thoughts.

I missed her. I missed holding her, listening to her, talking with her. I missed all of her. But because of her loyalty to her friends, her unsolved issues, and her own low self-esteem, she was ripped away from me.

That morning I realized that I was already too late. _I was her too late. _The words burned as I had said them. But I guess it was better to be late the sorry.

The events of today proved to us that we weren't meant to be together, we were _too _different. Our lives were too complicated enough apart for them to ever work together. She had to see this eventually; she had to know this by now.

Both Carlisle and Hale showed this to us. They demonstrated that we weren't going to work together, we were going to hurt the other in some shape or form eventually, and they were both trying to spare us the heartache in advance. But Carlisle was a dick and Hale was a bitch. They didn't know how _our _relationship worked; they didn't know this side to us.

I didn't know what Bella would do, but I sure as hell knew that I wouldn't hurt her; the idea of hurting her was just blasphemous.

But there were just too many obstacles in the way for us to get to each other; for us to help each other. We needed a sign, or at least something.

My phone on the nightstand started ringing, and I glanced at the clock to see that it was now going on two in the afternoon. When I looked at the Caller ID, Emmett's name appeared and I internally groaned. He was not someone I really wanted to talk to right now.

When I asked myself who I wanted to talk to, Bella's face came to mind. I wanted to hear her sweet innocent and angelic voice, I wanted it to calm me and bring me out of reality long enough for me to be happy; to tell me that everything was going to be okay.

But, I had to quickly remind myself that we were not right for each other, and that she and I were the reasons our realities were becoming so complicated.

"Yeah," I grumbled into the phone.

"Oh, hey man don't sound to excited, it's only your favourite cousin here, offering you a chance to get out of the house to end your never ending moping," Emmett, the sarcastic ass, remarked. I rolled my eyes and rolled out of bed to make my way over to the window.

"I'm not really into the going out mood," I heard Emmett chuckle on the other end of the line. "Do you honestly think that I care if your in the mood or not. Besides, you don't really have any choice. The girls are going shopping for November clothes in Port Angeles today, so we're having a guy's night on the town," he exclaimed.

"November clothes?" I asked, because that sounded a little far fetched. "Yeah, it's a...Alice thing," was his only answer. _Okay._

"Anyway, me and Jazz are going to hang out at Marshall's for awhile, you know shoot some pool for a bit, then we were going to check out a movie, maybe they're playing the classics tonight," he wondered mostly to himself.

I really wasn't in the mood to do anything, but then again I didn't want to sit around the house and hope that Bella would just call to give me some sort of sign as to where we are going. She was shopping for 'November Clothes' so there was little to no chance of that happening.

"Yeah, what the hell, nothing better to do anyway," I sighed.

"Great, be there in half an hour, and you better be ready, I'm not waiting around for your scrawny ass," Emmett said right before he hung up the phone.

I threw myself back on the bed and hung up the phone. Bella wasn't going to call; then again, she did say that we needed to take a few days apart, to analyze what we wanted, or what we were doing for that matter. So, I was going out with Emmett and Jazz, and I wasn't going to think about Bella Swan and her world that seemed to beat to the drum of Rosalie Hale.

Emmett came shortly after I had hung up with him, and he honked the horn of the Jeep while he waited in the drive way. I wondered when he had stopped by the house to pick it up.

I jumped into the passenger seat of the monstrous vehicle, only to be greeted by an irritated Emmett.

"What the fuck took you so long?" he asked as he started to peel out of the driveway. I had to grab on to the handle bar of the jeep door just to keep myself righted in my seat. "Emmett, who taught you to drive?" I asked as I was thrown around in my seat. He took off before I could even put my seat belt on.

Jasper was already hunkered down in the back seat, so he wasn't moving around from side to side like I was.

Before I knew it, we were already at Marshall's, one of the local Bar and Grills. Emmett groaned when he burst through the door and seen that the two pool tables were already taken by some of our fellow classmates.

Emmett continued to grumble as he made his way to a booth in the corner and took a seat in the far left. Jazz and I followed him, not really getting what the big deal was in the first place.

"Great, thanks to Eddie here, we have to wait for the pool tables to free up," Emmett grumbled while I glared at him for using that stupid nick name. The waitress came by and took our order of three Cokes, and returned with them within that minute.

Jazz and I didn't feel like looking at a pouting Emmett, so we helped ourselves to a game of darts. I won the first game, and Jasper took the second round easily. It was till the third round did Jasper finally ask, "So, what's going on with you and Swan that has my sister all worked up?"

I answered truthfully, "Nothing actually, we're just friends. I don't see why everyone has to make a big deal out of something that we haven't even defined yet," I said as I scored an easy forty. Jazz stepped up to the plate and took his turn, not missing a single beat and moving ahead of me by tewnty on the score board.

"I was just wondering, man. I've never seen Rose go off on Bella like that, it was kind of frightening," he laughed to himself with a shake of his head. I'll admit, at the time I was worried about Bella, but I was even more worried about Rosalie, because Bella could hold her own too.

"In all honesty here Edward, if you like Bella and I mean _really _like Bella, then just go for it. Don't let my sister get in the way. Bella is so important to her, actually I think they're important to each other, and I have known Bella for a long time. So I know what I mean when I say that she might listen to Rose, and I don't want to see Bella miss out on another good thing. She needs more of those in her life," his voice drifted off with the last sentence, and it was then that I felt that there was more to Bella's story then what she had told me. But Jasper was right, I couldn't let somebody like Rose, or Carlisle for that matter, get in the way of something that could be so good.

"Yeah, well, what about you and Alice?" I hedged, trying to take the subject off of me for awhile. Jasper looked at me uneasily, "What about us, man?" he asked while he took his shot, missing the board completely.

"I don't know, you tell me. It just seemed that you two were getting close that's all," I commented as I took my turn. Jasper scoffed, "You mean after I practically called her a slut the last time?" he chuckled humourlessly.

"It's going good," he continued, "After all the confusion and mind games we played with each other, we're finally taking things at a normal pace and finally easing into it. Nothing really happened last night; we just talked and got to know each other more."

I listened to Jasper and remembered my night with Bella, our talk at the water tower, listening to her breathing as she slept beside me, the feeling of knowing that she was still there when I woke up the next morning.

Suddenly then all my doubts about Bella and I went out the window. I didn't care about everything. I didn't care that Carlisle was constructing my future, that Rosalie Hale was standing between me and Bella, and that Bella's old life and our friendship were so off balance. All that mattered was _her; Isabella Swan._

Bella made me feel, feel more then I had in years. Jasper and his weird logic was my sign. The sign that I needed to tell me to forget everything that continued to build between us that pried us apart. I would stand by her through anything, I knew that now. And something told me that she would stand by me too.

"So, did you ask her out on an official date yet?" I asked Jasper as I took my final three shots at the board.

Jasper shook his head, "No, I didn't get a chance too. She was off to Port Angeles before I even had a chance to bring it up. It doesn't matter though, they'll be other times to ask her," he said as he took his last three shots and tallied up the points.

"That's game, man. You won," he told me. I smiled once and nodded. I had won, and he had no idea how right he was.

***

We ended up spending the rest of the night at Marshall's. We ordered onion rings, mushroom caps, and one round of Cokes after another. It wasn't till nine were we finally out of there. Emmett had to win at least one game of pool before we could finally leave, and it wasn't till we played about the twelfth game did he finally feel satisfied – and did he finally win.

When we got back to the Hale house, Jasper broke into his dad's mini bar and we spent the rest of the night getting acquainted with Jack, Hennessey, and Jameson, while watching a marathon of _Manswers_.

I'll admit that the whole guys night wasn't a bad idea, especially the whole watching Emmett throw up in his own shoes while still wearing them on his feet - that was fucking hilarious - but I still wanted to hear that sweet angelic voice.

So after Rosalie came in around eleven, and after we killed about half of Mr. Hale's mini bar, Rose picked up a wasted Emmett and took him upstairs to put him to bed shortly after one in the morning. I sat up with Jazz for a while till he passed out, but stayed long enough to hear him mumble something about Alice and dinner.

I decided then that it was time to go back home. As I made my way out the Hale front door, I decided that it wouldn't be best if I drove, so I made my way and stumbled down the street instead.

About halfway home, I did the one and only thing that I had wanted to do all night; I pulled out my cell phone and called Bella.

But there was no answer, only her voicemail. Something told me that she was sleeping, but I had to see her. I had to at least say good night.

The better half of me knew that I wasn't making any sense, and most of it was thanks to the alcohol that I had consumed. It wasn't a good idea to randomly stroll up to the Chief's house in the middle of the night and be an intoxicated under aged teen, but I _had _to see her.

So instead of turning right, I went left.

I was in front of the Swan residence in a mere ten minutes, staring up at her half open, and dark, bedroom window.

The tree outside her room was big, and close enough to her window for me to jump from. So that's what I did. As unskilfully as I was at it, I tried my best to be very stealth, very unsuccessfully stealth I might add, and climbed her larger then life oak tree. My left leg slipped, and I cursed aloud when I felt my knee scrub up against the rough bark of the tree, I was positive that some blood had been drawn. _Note to self, use front door for next time._

When I was high enough up in the tree I could see that she was fast asleep in her bed, and the window was open enough so that I could gently lift it open wider to jump in. But I didn't want to frighten her and be the cause for a seventeen year old girl's heart attack.

I called her cell again, hoping that she would wake to answer it. I had seen the phone at her bedside, ringing and vibrating on the nightstand.

She grumbled lightly and rolled over to answer it. "Hello?" she drowsily asked. I smiled at the sound of her voice and I swear I could feel my heart soar. I could have flown off that tree if I wanted too. I didn't know if it was her presence and the fact that she was so close to me now, or if it had to do with the hour of fresh air I had just had, but I suddenly felt a hell of a lot more sober.

"Hey, look out your window," I whispered. Bella turned slightly, looking completely unconscious, until she saw me sitting on her tree branch. Her eyes suddenly widened and her mouth fell to form the shape of a little 'O.'

Hopping out of bed, she grabbed her glasses of the night stand and put them on, hung up the phone and ran over to the window to open it. "Edward," she said breathlessly as she motioned for me to come in.

I swung my leg over the ledge and tumbled in. The alcohol wasn't good for my balance. "Shh..." she scolded me as she helped me up off the floor and in from the crisp November cold.

Once I was in from the cold, I was finally able to take in Bella's full appearance. She was wearing Capri Sweats, a black tank top and her hair was messily hanging down to her shoulders. She had never looked more natural or more beautiful.

"Edward what are you doing here?" she hissed as she pulled me away from the window. She was silent for a moment till she was sure she heard her fathers distant snoring somewhere else in the house. Then, she hit my chest with her little fist making me curse aloud. "What the hell Edward, you scared the shit out of me," she continued to yell at me, "And, have you been drinking?" she asked as she sniffed my sweater.

Then she looked at me and waited till I continued. "Yeah, I was with Emmett and Jasper at House of Hale." I chuckled. She looked at me confused, tired and half conscious. "Let me guess? Jack and Mr. Hale's personal favourite, Hennessy? What are you doing Edward, it's practically two in the morning?" she asked again as she walked over to her closet and pulled on a sweater.

I watched her as she gracefully walked around her room in the dark. She glowed in the dark, and it wasn't until she was sitting in front of me on the bed did I realize she was still waiting for an answer.

"Well, I just...had to see...you," there, it was out there.

She blushed a light pink and looked away from my gaze. "Well, here I am," she joked as she fiddled with her hands as she looked down at them nervously, avoiding my gaze.

This was the first time I was ever in her room, and I took in my surroundings. She had a shelf beside her door that was filled with books upon books. There was a desk beside her bed on the right, and a nightstand on the left of it.

She had a large closet and a vanity table in the corner of her room, but there looked to be only one compact of foundation and one pencil of brown eyeliner. Her walls were covered with pictures of her and her friends, music posters, and just regular art paintings.

"About today," she started breaking me out of my daze, but I cut her off before she could have a chance to continue.

"I don't care. They're all wrong anyway. Carlisle, Rosalie, and Jessica Stanley even; they're all wrong and I don't care what they say. They don't get what we have Bella, I have told you more about me then I have ever told anyone, even more then I have ever told myself. And I know I won't hurt you Bella, I could _never _bring anyharm to you." I told her with so much sincerity I hoped that she could see it was all real.

"Edward, I know you weren't hurt me, but-"

"Bella, why must you be...Look, last night when I told you that I needed you, I really meant it. I need this," I motioned between the two of us with my hands, "I don't want this feeling to ever go away," I quoted her from earlier today. I don't know if it was the alcohol that was suddenly giving me courage to put myself out there, out on the line, but I liked it.

I was able to me open minded and outspoken, and if it helped me show Bella how much this meant to me, then I would take Emmett up on his 'guy's' nights more often.

She smiled wholeheartedly as she let out a deep breath and closed her eyes and whispered, "I'm just standing, staring into his eyes and I'm dancing." She had a small and pleasant smile on her lips.

I pulled her up to me and wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closet to my chest and whispered into her hair, "The key that unlocks the bars of impossibility."

She turned her head and looked at me and her smile broke out. She wound her arms around my neck and I saw her eyes glisten with something, something that wasn't there before.

I gently placed my lips to hers and I was gone. I had lost all control. There was no going back to where I was before. I had her, and I wasn't going to lose her.

Bella's grasp on me tightened as she responded to the kiss. I pulled away long enough to ask, "What was that you were saying earlier, Bella?" she blushed lightly and hid her smile from me.

"It was in a note book that my grandmother had given me, a book that she had put together throughout her lifetime of her favourite quotes, it was just one from a poem that I always remembered," she smiled as she looked up at me from under her lashes.

"What was that you said about impossibility?" she asked in return, cocking one eyebrow, challenging me?

"That was actually a song lyric from one of my mother's unfinished songs. It was about friendship, and my father."

Bella reached up on her tip toes and laced my lips with hers. She was more urgent in this kiss, and as she glazed her tongue along the bottom of my lower lip, I gave in. I was already a goner when it came to her.

Her hands slid up my neck as she wrapped her fingers in my hair at the base of my neck. My hands tightened their hold on her waist as I started to lower her to the bed.

Bella started to pull me down with her till I rested on top of her, out tongues still battling with each other. When we got comfortable, and I was situated beside her, she started to pull up on the hem of my shirt, her tongue still doing wondrous things with mine. I don't know if it was the alcohol still in my system, or if it was the fact that I wanted her to proceed, but I let her fully remove both my sweater and my shirt.

Once she was satisfied when it was fully removed and lying next to us on the floor, I slid my hand down her hip and all the way down her leg till it rested on her calf. I stopped there and lifted her leg and hooked it over my hip.

Bella released a throaty moan, and I felt myself starting to automatically harden at the sound of it. She was going to be the death of me, she was.

"Bella?"

We both froze. We instantly froze. Alice was lightly knocking on Bella's door, and calling out for her. Bella lied motionless under me and her eyes popped out of her head in immediate panic.

Quickly she rolled me off of her and tossed me off the other side of the bed and away from the door. "Stay down, be quiet and she shouldn't see you," she quickly whispered as she threw my shirt and sweater at me before she bolted to the door.

"Alice, what are you doing? It's two in the morning?" she hissed drowsily. Alice just glared at Bella skeptically. "I could have sworn that you had someone in here, Bella." Alice pried, and Bella shifted on her feet uneasily.

"Alice you're hearing things, who would I have in here?"

"I don't know _Isabella, _you tell me," Alice crossed her little arms over her chest and glared at Bella, challenging her to argue. I stayed behind the other side of the bed, completely hidden from Alice's view. I suddenly wondered what would happen if Alice had discovered that I was hiding in her cousin's bedroom in the middle of the night. My mental outcome wasn't too pretty.

But Bella continued to play it cool, "You're out of your mind, and I'm going back to bed. Good night, Alice" and Bella closed the door in Alice's face before she could say anything further.

Bella ran over to me and pulled me up from the floor. "You should go, next time we might not be so lucky to only get Alice knocking at my door," she whispered as she helped me put my shirt back on over my head.

"Good night to you too, Edward, and maybe if you're lucky you'll see me tomorrow. If you know what's good for 'ya," she said with a teasing smirk before she gave me a quick kiss and pushed me toward the window.

"Good night, Miss Swan," I whispered in her ear, making her shiver as she stood with me at the window.

With a final kiss from her, I slipped my way out the window and back the way I had originally came, and started my long walk home with a big goofy grin on my face, and completely head over heels.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. **

**I'm not going to say when the next chapter will be up, because we all know that us authors rarely ever make an update deadline, but I will post again I can promise you that. Please don't forget to review, constructive criticism and comments are always welcome,**

**As Always, **

**~DayDreamBeliever'93  
**


	17. I Don't Care What They Say, I'm Yours

**I AM NOT SM, THEREFORE I AM NOT THE OFFICIAL OWNER OF TWILIGHT**

**Hello there agian. Well this update was much sooner then the last one, and I promise the the next one shouldn't be too long either. I would just like to thank those of you who are actually reading this Fic, because it is you guys that are keeping it alive and pushed me to finish this chapter. And, believe if or not but I have actually tried to revise this chapter, so hopefully there are only minimal errors that I just happened to have missed. **

**Well, anyways....Happy Readings.  
**

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Chapter 17: I Don't Care What My Friends Say, I'm Yours**_

**BPOV**

When we're all younger we are told and forced to believe that our prince charming will come to find us and take us away to our own personal happily ever after. That he will be the man of our dreams, the father of our children, and our best friend. Well you would think that with my past background that I would have given up on this fantasy.

For awhile there I had. My parents spilt, Mike was far from perfect – so as you can see, I didn't have the best track record for believing in that sort of thing.

However, these past few weeks my life has reached its high. I was happy, sincerely happy and far beyond eternal bliss. My friends, Alice and Rose, were at their highs too. Rose had Em, Alice _finally _had Jasper, and I had my own personal prince charming – Edward.

Okay, call me lovesick, call it puppy love, call it being naive or even call it clichéd, call it whatever you want, but I'm happy - full blown out, hands down, sunset on the beach side, _happy_. I can't even remember the last time that I was actually this happy.

Alice called it a miracle that I was genuinely smiling when I came downstairs the morning after Edward was in my room. Rose referred to it as the apocalypse of time. But to me and Edward it was just us being us.

At school that next week, everyone stared at us as we made our way around school. Lauren and Jessica glared, Angela smiled, and Mike looked uneasy. I had accepted Mike's whole relationship with Jess, but he still seemed to have a problem with Edward and me.

When I had invited Edward over to dinner to meet Emily, Sam and Jacob two weeks after Halloween as my new official boyfriend, saying that it was a little awkward and went terribly was a major understatement.

***

Edward had come earlier to help me prepare for dinner. Alice was spending the night at the Hale's and Charlie had to work the late shift.

I was standing in the kitchen when I suddenly felt two arms snake around my waist and lift me up in the air. "No, wait! I'm going to spill the sauce!" I screamed and laughed as he twirled me around in the air, causing me to practically kick the pot off the stove.

Edward kissed below my ear and chuckled. I continued to scream as he spun me around and around in the kitchen, "Edward stop, you're going to drop me," I laughed and squealed as I felt myself beginning to slip in his grasp.

It didn't faze him at all as he lowered his neck down so he could whisper in my ear, "I would never drop you Bella." And despite the fact that I was slipping lower and lower to the floor, I new he meant it.

"Ahem," a voice cleared their throat from the doorway, forcing Edward to put me down as we turned to face whoever it was that was now in my kitchen. Emily, Jacob, and Sam were standing there, silently watching me and Edward's encounter.

Emily and Sam both looked knowingly, but Jacob on the other hand looked rather, well annoyed. It had been Jacob that had cleared his throat.

I blushed furiously as I pulled myself out of Edward's warm embrace and made my way over to them. "Hey, you guys I didn't hear you come in," I greeted as I hugged the happy soon to be married couple. "Well, I guess not." Jacob snidely commented as he glared daggers at Edward.

"Jacob," I hissed under my breath while throwing him a death glare of my own. He tore his eyes from Edward to finally meet mine, and they instantly softened as he smiled down at me. "Hey Bells, how are you?" he finally said while taking down his tough guy facade and opened his arms to me. I smiled in relief as I greatly accepted his warm and familiar embrace, "I'm good Jake."

It was Edward's turn to awkwardly clear his throat. I stepped away from Jake then, and realized that I was now standing in an area most would call No Mans Land in a battle – I was smack dab in the middle between Edward and Jacob's glares.

Alice had warned me that this would inevitably happen, but I brushed it off, honestly believing that both Edward and Jacob were both man enough not to start a pissing contest over it.

"Bella what are you making, it smells absolutely delicious," Emily cut in, undoubtedly saving my life from that awkward moment. I smiled a silent thank you to her before I responded. "I'm making lasagne; we're just waiting on the sauce before I throw it in the oven."

I turned toward Edward and smiled up at him, "Edward can you take Emily and Sam into the dining room while I finish cooking, please." I knew it wasn't necessary since both Sam and Emily had spent enough time here, but I needed to talk to Jacob alone.

Edward looked down at me and grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes, he picked up that I only mentioned Emily and Sam. "Sure," was all he said as he walked past me and directed Emily and Sam into the dining room that they already knew so well.

I turned my back to Jacob as I went back to the sauce I was stirring earlier. Jacob stayed at the door and didn't say a word. "What was that Jake?" I finally asked him.

He came and stood beside me at the counter when he finally answered, "What was that? Bella, what's going on with you? Here you are, playing house wife with this guy that you don't even know when Charlie isn't home. You've blown the La Push gang off twice for him, and here you are acting like it's no big deal. So why don't _you_ tell me what's going on here Bells?" he demanded as he stood up straight looking down at me.

I couldn't believe he was doing this to me again! This was the second time we had had this exact same conversation, and it was suddenly starting to feel like Déjà vu.

"Cut the crap Jake! This is feeling a little like Déjà Vu don't you think?" I yelled. I suddenly remembered that the others were only in the next room over so I took a deep breath and decided to start again. "Look, I'm sorry I blew you guys off a couple of times, I agree that was wrong, but both times I wasn't even with Edward, those times I was with Alice. But it still wasn't right. So don't judge Edward alright, he doesn't deserve that. So just grow up Jake and deal with the fact that I'm actually happy."

I huffed before I continued, "And I'm sorry if all I wanted to do was introduce you to my boyfriend, so can you please be civil for me?" And with that I left the room, leaving him alone to muster over his thoughts in the kitchen.

I walked into the living room and saw Edward and Sam discussing the latest ball game stats and talking about meeting up sometime to watch a game together. I threw a smile at Edward and really liked that he was getting to know my friends. Edward looked up and saw me standing at the foot of the steps watching him and winked back at me, causing my stomach to flip in the process.

I suddenly felt my head start pounding in on me. _Damn, a headache, _I thought to myself. I trudged my way up the stairs and walked straight into the bathroom, hoping that I would find what I was in search for. But just as I predicted there was no Advil, Tylenol, or Motrin in sight. _Damn Rose, always making sure there was none in my reach, just like I was a little kid. _

Desperate to end that never ending pounding in my head, I called up Alice knowing that she would give in, unlike Rose the solid rock who couldn't be budged. Alice picked up on the first ring. "Hey Bella, how's your dinner going?" she excitedly asked as soon as she answered.

I sighed, "Well Jacob basically killed the mood, now I have this pounding headache, and I need you to tell me where you keep your Advil." I said as I rummaged through Alice's room.

Alice was silent on the other end, and I knew she was reluctant to give in with about the whole thing. "Look, Bella, maybe you should just go downstairs and sit with Edward. I'm sure your headache will go away after that," she pushed. I sighed annoyingly, "C'mon Alice, I can't make it through the rest of the night otherwise."

"Bella, this was your idea, your dinner. Okay, you'll be fine, I bet that as soon as you go and talk to Edward your headache will be gone and you won't even need anything." I groaned, "Alice, I'm serious. I'm having feminine craps too so I'm extremely moody right now." I was mentally curing both Jacob and Alice in my head; Jacob for causing the pain and Alice for not supplying me with a quick fix.

"No Bella, now get out of my room or I will call Rose and you can talk to her about it," she threatened. I sighed, and was forced to give in. "Fine, but Alice, you don't fight fair." Alice laughed lightly on the other end, "Hey, I was instructed not to fight fair by the general herself. Now, try to have fun Bella, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

I was beyond irritated with Alice at this point, so my head was only pounding even more. "Yeah, whatever. Bye you evil pixie." I hung up my phone and slammed her door shut behind me and made my way down stairs to attend to my guests.

Dinner was ready an hour later, and the five of us were sitting in the dining room, silently picking at our food on our plates. Alice was right, as soon as I was near Edward my pounding and painful headache went away, but sitting at the dining table with the uncomfortable silence only intensified it even more.

"So," Edward began, looking toward Jacob, "Jacob, um...Bella tells me you ride a motorcycles." Jacob grunted as he shoved his salad into his mouth, "Yeah," was all he said, abruptly ending that conversation.

I threw Jacob another glare; it had to have been about the hundred and fiftieth one of the night. Jacob looked up at me and smiled, but it didn't look friendly. "Edward, what are you doing after high school?" Oh no, Jake was now playing the father figure. "Jacob," I warned, but Edward cut me off.

"No it's okay Bella. Actually Jacob, I am thinking about going to school in Alaska." Jacob scoffed, "Bella doesn't like the cold, have you considered that?" he snarled. But Edward being the gentlemen that he was remained cool and simply responded with a polite, "Yes I'm aware of that, that's why we've both applied to other school's in the country together as well," I smiled at him and squeezed his had under the tabled.

"Besides Black, you don't need to tell me who Bella is, I'm quite aware of who she is already," there was General Edward. Edward was starting to defend himself against Jake's accusations.

"Edward what are you doing this May?" Sam cut in, saving the rest of what was left of dinner. Edward smiled at him and shook his head, "Nothing other then finals, Sam." Sam nodded once then offered, "Well then, you should come to our wedding. It's in La Push in May, and it's going to be at the cliffs. It should be fun, and since Bella here is one of Emily's bridesmaids-"

"Wait, what?" I asked as I looked back and forth between Emily and Sam. Emily huffed and looked over at Sam, "I wanted to ask her." Then she looked over at me and smiled lightly, "How about it Bella, would you like to be one of my bridesmaids?" she asked looking hopeful.

I grinned, "Of course! I would love nothing more then to stand up at your wedding," I grinned at her, and then I heard Edward chuckled to my left. "Yeah, now that I know Bella will be there wearing one of those big dresses, I'm definitely going," he laughed.

I kicked him under the table, "Hey, don't tease. I just might be more graceful then you think," I defended myself. There was a long silence at the table before everyone broke out into laughter. "I don't think you could be graceful if you had to save your life," Sam kidded as he held his side from laughing.

Jacob pushed himself from the table and stormed out of the room then. We all watched him go in silence, and it was me that got up and went after him.

"Jacob!" I called angrily after him as he slammed the front door behind him and in my face. I screamed in frustration as I ripped it open and chased after him down my walkway, ignoring the rain that was pouring down.

"What the hell, Jacob!" I screamed, "What has gotten into you, can't you see me happy? You of all people should know what it's like for me to be happy, how much this means to me." I was on the verge of crying when he finally turned to look at me.

"Of course I do! That's why I'm leaving Bells! I always wanted to be the one to make you this happy, but I never was." He was screaming back at me now, not holding anything in. "Even as you sit here and play the little old housewife with Sam and Emily, I can see that I will never be the one to make you happy. Don't keep me here to see that Bella, don't force me to watch what you have that I can't!"

He was still screaming at me and clearly beyond livid as the rain pelted down on the both of us.

We stood in front of each other, trying to calm our ragged breathing. "I'm sorry Bella, but I can't just stand and watch by anymore. I was able to be here for you for years, but not anymore. I'm done." He whispered, clearly tired and broken from everything.

As what he was saying to me slowly registered, the others joined us outside. Jacob got into the back of Sam's car as Emily came and stood at my side. "He'll get over it Bella, I know her will. I'll call you later, dinner was excellent," she whispered into my ear as she ran to the passenger side of the car, avoiding the rain. Sam was standing on my left side and squeezed my shoulder apologetically before he got into the driver side of the car.

I just watched them pull out of the driveway to head back to La Push. I closed my eyes and let the rain wash away everything. The pain I felt for hurting Jacob, worrying Edward and Alice, and for becoming so weak earlier. I almost relapsed, and it would have been my fault and my fault only I was weak.

But what really hurt me was Jake. This whole time he had an agenda, he was trying to get me to love him this whole time when I already did. He was my friend, my brother and confidant. But this whole time, for him that was never enough, so he was never really my honest friend. He had always wanted something in return.

I turned and headed back into the house, not really noticing Edward standing on the porch waiting for me. He threw a blanket around my shoulders and pulled me close to him, I was too frozen to question where he got the blanket.

I walked into the dining room where we had been before, and quietly started gathering the dishes. I still hadn't said a word, till I suddenly felt Edward turn me into him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, and I uncontrollably lost it. I cried into his chest.

He moved us into the living room and sat me beside him on the couch, and he just let me cry it out. After what seemed like hours, I finally stopped when I knew I wasn't capable of mustering up anymore more tears.

"I'm sorry, Edward. This was a disaster, but I just wanted you two to get know each other. I honestly didn't think that he would react that way," I muttered into his chest.

Edward simply shrugged it off. "It's okay Bella, really. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, because I knew the moment that I saw him how he felt about you."

I was confused, "How did you know, you just met him?" I asked as I pulled back a little to look up into his eyes.

"I knew because I feel the exact same about you, only it's stronger for me." I felt my eyes tearing up again. I leaned up and placed my lips on his and kissed him slowly and tenderly, my silent thank you.

The more I thought about it Jacob was right, I shouldn't have flaunted Edward in front of him, playing housewife and acting like I had just won the lottery. But when I was with Edward that's exactly how it felt, like I had just won my own personal lottery, and there was no way in hell I was giving it up – not for anything. I wasn't going to feel sorry for it either.

"You're amazing you know that," I smiled up at him. He grinned and kissed my forehead. "You're beautiful inside and out, Bella. So, don't worry about Jacob Black, he'll come around." He assured me. I just nodded weakly and agreed with him, but secretly I wasn't too sure, all I knew was that when I was around Edward everything felt right and all the headaches in the world went away.

***

That night changed everything. Edward and I were closer, Alice watched me more closely, Emily and I talked constantly preparing wedding details, and Jacob and I didn't talk at all.

But regardless of everything, I was still ecstatic with the way my life was at the moment. Alice still hadn't told Rose about my panic attack at dinner, and Edward and I went on just as we were before.

"So, my uncle is coming home for Thanksgiving, and Alice couldn't be more excited. What are the Cullen's doing for Thanksgiving?" I asked, trying to sound as non chalet about as possible. Carlisle and Edward were still not talking to each other, and although this really worried me, Edward continued to convince me that it everything was okay.

Edward and I were sitting at the water tower, five days before Thanksgiving. I was sitting on his lap with my back to his chest, looking out at all the colourful leaves, while Edward was trying to distract me by sucking on my neck right below my ear, completely avoiding my question.

"Ed...ward," I mumbled trying to focus on what I had asked earlier. "Hmm?" he asked, lightly playing with my ear lobe in between his teeth. "Well, what are the Cullen's doing for...Thanksgiving?" I slurred.

Edward only squeezed me closer to him and sucked harder behind my ear, which I was now sure was going to leave a mark. "I don't know," he muttered, clearly focused on what he was trying to accomplish.

"Hey," I chuckled, "You aren't going to distract me that easily Mr. Masen."

But Edward didn't cease his motions; he only chuckled into my hair and smiled against it. "Is it working Miss Swan?" he asked as he tilted my neck back so I was forced to look into his eyes. He was winning this battle and he knew it.

"Well, that's beside the point. Now just answer the damn question." I demanded, earning and annoyed groan from him. "Look, I'm doing my best work here Bella, and your completely dismissing it," he teased with a smirk.

"Trust me I'm not," I whispered as I kissed him, but quickly pulled away before he could get ever more into it. "Now answer the question, or I won't kiss you till you do."

Edward looked smug, "Trust me Swan; you would cave before I did." I smiled, which I hoped looked to be wicked, "Try me Masen," I said through narrowed eyes, challenging him.

"Ugh!" Edward groaned in frustration, "Fine, Esme is contributing to the community feast, but the day before that we are having our own dinner at the house on _Carlisle's _day off."

I smiled and kissed him again, but pulled away once more. "There, now was that so hard."

"Excruciating," he whispered against my lips before he took my bottom one in between his.

I smiled and kissed him back completely voluntarily. I felt his tongue slide along my bottom lip, begging and pleading for entrance, and I didn't even have to think once to grant him it.

I few minutes later when we pulled away for air I asked, "What are you contributing to you aunt and uncles dinner?" Edward only looked at me suspiciously, "Who said I'm going?"

I scoffed, "Well Edward, why wouldn't you go? You have a lot to be thankful for, like Esme and Carlisle for taking you in, having a nice roof over your head, your cousin who's been your friend since you lost everything..." I drifted off, hoping that I hadn't upset him.

Edward leant in and kissed my nose, "Thankful for you," he added to my thought from before. I smiled and rolled my eyes, happy that I hadn't insulted him.

"Yeah there's that too. See why wouldn't you go to your aunt's dinner?" Edward sighed, "Don't push this Bella; you know Carlisle and I aren't getting along. Besides, I was hoping that I could spend that day with you."

I rolled my eyes, "Nice try Edward, but I do think that you should go to dinner with your family. It's the holiday's you and Carlisle need to reconcile."

Edward stared at me for a moment or two before he pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear, "Only if you're there. I can't face the wolves alone; I need you there with me."

I smiled and I was grateful that my back was to him so he wouldn't see me blush. "Edward Cullen, are you asking me to Thanksgiving dinner with your family?" Edward laughed, "Yeah, I guess I am Miss Swan."

I was grinning and beyond joyful now, "I'd love to. Don't worry Edward, I promise I'll never leave your side." I felt Edward smile as he leaned forward and started nibbling on my earlobe on the other side. "Good," he muttered as he continued to where he had left off from earlier. "You can bring the cranberries," he said, as he started tickling my sides, making me scream and laugh like a little three year old.

When I got home that night, Alice ran downstairs and grabbed my wrist, pulling me by Charlie before I could even get out a 'Hello.'

"Alice, what's going on?" I asked hesitantly as she dragged me into her room. "Silly Bella, I need your opinion. I'm working on my dress for the Winter Formal next month and I don't know if I should add the orange or the red or the purple or the yellow ribbon and Rose isn't home so you're the best I got and what do you think?"

Alice spoke so fast, she didn't even break once for air. Before I knew it I was standing in front of a half finished dress. "The Yellow ribbon would look best." I said breathlessly as I stared at her dress in amazement. It really was beautiful. Alice definitely had a career in fashion.

"So you and Jazz are really going to this thing next month," it wasn't a question but more so an observation. Alice nodded repeatedly, "Yeah he asked me last night." I stared at Alice blankly, "But Alice, you've been working on this for a week...?" I questioned her, and she grinned again.

"Well, I wanted my dad to see how good I am when it comes to making dresses this weekend, when he comes around for Thanksgiving," she beamed as she turned to add the yellow ribbon to the dress.

"What about you and Edward? Going to the Winter Formal?" Alice chirped as she scrutinized her work before turning back to me.

I shrugged, "We talked about it briefly the other week but he hasn't officially asked me." Alice quirked her eyebrow at me, but didn't press on the matter.

"Alice," we heard Charlie call from downstairs. We both got up and went to meet him downstairs. "Yeah Uncle Charlie?" she asked as we rounded the corner to the kitchen.

Charlie looked up from the kitchen table and gave Alice a sympathetic look. "This package just arrived for you," and he got up and left us standing there in front of a large box.

Alice gaped down at it. "Oh I wonder what it is," she squealed with wide eyes. She tore apart the wrapping paper and tore up the cover of the box. Inside the box was a remarkable gown and a card addressed to _Miss Brandon_ that Alice pulled up and instantly began to read.

I gaped down at the wine coloured dress and looked up at Alice who now had tears in her eyes and turned wordlessly to walk upstairs. She dropped the card on the table, and left it there with the gown.

I watched soundlessly as Alice walked back up to her room, not saying a word to me or Charlie. Charlie and I both shared a confused look, before I picked up the card on the table and read it to myself:

_Alice, _

_I know I promised that I would be there for Thanksgiving dinner, but something has come up and I won't be able to make it. I'm sorry, and I'll see you in the New Year. I have also sent you with Vera Wang's newest evening gown from their latest line, and I hope you wear it to that Winter Formal you were telling me all about. I'm really sorry Sweet Pea,_

_Love, _

_Dad._

He wasn't coming. Uncle Brandon wasn't going to make it for Thanksgiving. I repeated those words over and over again to myself till I was able to comprehend what Alice was going through. She had been looking forward to her dad's arrival for weeks; this had to be killing her.

I picked up the dress and slowly made my way up to Alice's room. When I knocked lightly on the door and opened it to let myself in. I found Alice on the phone, desperately trying to convince her dad to change his plans.

"But, Dad you promised," she said through her tears. "Yeah I know, but things always come up and we haven't-"

She looked just like the little girl she still was on the inside, and in that moment I thought of my own mother and our broken relationship. I quickly pushed all those bottled up emotions back into their hidden box in the back of my mind and tried my best to focus on Alice.

"I love you too, and thanks for the dress. I'm sure I'll put both Lauren and Jessica to shame," she chuckled. "Bye Dad."

She flipped her phone shut and whimpered. I walked into the room and sat down beside her on the bed, placing the Vera Wang of the floor beside her. Alice stiffened and stood up taking the dress in her hands, "I'm going to go and try this on," she said in between her tears.

Alice closed up after that. She focused on herself in the mirror escaping the true emotions and hurt she felt. I didn't push her, I didn't want to. I knew she would open up about it when she wanted to, because that's how Alice was.

As I was getting ready for bed that night there was a light knock on my door. Excepting it to be Alice, I opened it right away, only to find Charlie standing there with an envelope in his hands.

I smiled up at my dad and let him in. Taking a seat at my vanity table, I continued to finish brushing out my wet and tangled hair from my shower. Charlie took a seat on the edge of my bed and smiled at me. "How are you doing Bells?"

I grinned and turned around to face him, "I'm great." Charlie nodded once, "That's good. Everything with Edward is good? Things with Jake are good? Sam and Emily are good? How's school?"

I cleared my throat, "Edwards great, and I'm sure Sam and Emily are doing good because the wedding plans are rolling smoothly, school is as good as it will ever be, but Jake and I are still at a rough patch, but what else is new right. What's going on dad?" I asked once I finally answered all his questions.

Charlie hesitated before he forced himself to continue, "Your mother called me yesterday," my breathing hitched and I stopped and avoided Charlie's eyes. "She wanted to know why you weren't returning her calls, and she wants you to go to Arizona for Thanksgiving."

At his words, the only thing that went through my mind was Edward's dinner, I couldn't let him down; he needed me. "I can't go, I have dinner with the Cullen's, and I can't miss that."

"I'm sure they'd understand Bells," Charlie said in a hard voice.

"No, I said I already made other plans. Besides, why are you pressuring me into this? I'm not going Charlie, I already promised that I would be there, I'm bringing the cranberries," I was panicking now and running out of reasons to stay. I knew Charlie would force me to go if he felt that I should, and I knew he did. He felt bad that I had lost all contact with Renee.

"Bella, you really should go-"

I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "What about the Community Feast, that's a Forks Tradition dad. And you and I both know that Forks has been my family more then she has in my entire life," I hoped that he could hear the desperation in my voice.

"That's the thing about traditions Bella, they're always there. It'll still be here next year."

"But I won't. I'm going to school next year dad; this is my last Forks Thanksgiving Community Feast for awhile. What about Alice? She was just crushed today when Alan told her that he wasn't coming, if anything she needs me here more then ever this weekend." I knew I was getting to him because he was starting to fidget with his fingers and stared running his hand through his receding hair.

"Alright Bells, you don't have to go this weekend, but you do have to go after Thanksgiving, even if its just for a couple of days, you're going. You mom sent this ticket for you, so you have to use it. But you're telling her of the change of plans, because I'm not talking to that woman again," he sighed as he got up and walked back to my door.

"What makes you think I want to talk to her?" I grumbled under my breath, but Charlie heard me. "I know she hasn't been the best mother in the world, but she's still your mother Bells, whether you like it or not. She's the only one you got."

Just like that my happiness came crashing down.

I should have known that based on my track record it wasn't going to last. I was only a senior in high school; it was destined to end sooner or later. But as long as I had my prince at my side, I knew everything was going to be fine. Even if I had to spend a couple of days in Arizona without him, because I knew he would be here when I got back. He would always be there for me, no matter what.

**EPOV**

These past few weeks had been perfect. Although Carlisle continued to warn me to keep my guard up with Bella, I knew that it wasn't necessary. Bella and I had been completely in our own world for weeks, and we just enjoyed each others presence.

The next morning after I had left Bella's I had a blasting headache thanks to Jack and Hennessy, but I didn't care. I still wore that happy ass grin that I had on the night before. Emmett saw it but didn't say anything, Esme saw it and smiled knowingly, and Carlisle sneered, aggravated that I had given up on Dartmouth, and I know that he now had a feeling as to why I had.

When Bella and I first walked into school that week, my arm was thrown casually yet intimately around her shoulder, and her body was inclined toward mine, and although we received nothing but glares and overly confused looks, Bella ignored them; actually I don't even think she fully noticed anyone of them.

When she asked me over to dinner to meet her friends from La Push, I didn't hesitate to say yes. I wanted to meet the people who had such an impact on her life, and was more then surprised when she asked me to meet them.

My first impression about Jacob Black hadn't been wrong. He was in love with Bella. That much was obvious, but when she dismissed him like he was a brother to her and nothing else, I knew she didn't share the same feelings. But apart of me, and a large part of me, worried that some day those feelings that she didn't currently have would make an appearance, and I would lose her.

When I met Sam and Emily, I really liked them. Sam and I had a lot in common, and he and Emily were perfect for each other.

During dinner however, Jacob started to interrogate me, and I could see that it was starting to both annoy and worry Bella. I tried to assure her that it was alright, but I was trying really hard to keep myself from going off at Jacob.

Before I knew it, Jacob had finally lost it. And I felt pity for him.

A big part of me worried that one day I would be in his position. That I would be on the other side of Bella's arm, that I would be questioning her choices, and that I would lose her to someone else, just as Jacob had. This was my biggest fear, that I wouldn't be good enough and that every unspoken thought that Carlisle had would come true. But of course I never told Bella this; I just lived in the moment.

After I had invited Bella to Thanksgiving dinner and dropped her off at her house, I stopped at the store to pick up the yeast the Esme had asked me to grab for her. But when I walked in I wasn't greeted by a friendly face.

Jacob Black was at the back counter, stocking the shelves. I tried to avoid him to the best of my ability, but unfortunately when I walked through the door, the bell above it went off.

Jacob turned and glared at me before he went back to stocking the shelves. I quickly made my way through the aisles till I found the product I was looking for and walked back to the front counter.

I paid the cashier and made my way out to the car, and I was almost to the Volvo too until I heard a familiar voice call from behind me. "How is she?"

"She's doing well," I stiffly answered, still refusing to face him and look him in the eye. "But you would know that if you tried to talk to her every once and awhile," I bit back. Jacob scoffed, "Really? Well maybe if you weren't around I would. Just like I used to be," he snarled.

I finally had it. I viciously threw the bags that I had in the back of the car and turned to finally face Jacob Black head on.

"Do you have a problem with me, Black?" I spat down at him.

Jacob laughed, "For a smart guy you can be really daft sometimes Cullen. Of course I have a problem with you. Bella has been alone for a long time, and I've always been the one that was there for her, and suddenly you come out of no where and jump in to take my spot, so of course I have a problem with you."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "You've been there for her, really? Are you aware that her mother has been trying to talk to her, and that was practically a month ago! Where were you then, Black? Bella and I were barely talking then and she came to me, where were you? You haven't been in her life for a long time Jacob, so don't beat her up over it when clearly it was your fault, she doesn't deserve that."

I turned on my heels and away from him and back toward my car. I didn't have to waste my time or my breath on him. "You don't know her, Cullen. There is a lot more to her past then what you know, and the fact that I know what it is just kills you," he barked. He was trying to get under my skin, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let him.

"You may be right, Black. But that's the difference between me and you; I'm not going to force her to tell me, because I know Bella will tell me on her own when she's ready."

I slammed the door to the Volvo before I had to hear anymore of his whiny bullshit.

Esme was standing at the door waiting for me when I got in, "Edward what took you so long, we're going to have to wait longer for the bread now." I just handed her the bag and walked upstairs without a word.

"Edward?" she called after me, but I was already too far up the stairs to want to turn around to talk.

Carlisle walked into my room after dinner, without knocking, and stood at my door, waiting for me to acknowledge his presence.

"What?" I annoyingly asked finally giving in. "I wanted to talk to you about that account," he started. I shifted in my seat waiting for him to continue. "Where are you looking to go to school, Edward?" he asked me for the first time. I rolled my eyes, "I was thinking about going to Alaska, but now I'm not really too sure."

"Does this uncertainty have anything to do with the chief's daughter?" he asked. I sighed, "Her name is Bella, Carlisle. And no, this has to do with me."

Carlisle contemplated on whether or not he believed me, but something must have convinced him. "Alright Edward, I believe you. How about we make a deal," he offered, but something was telling me that if I agreed I might as well have been making a deal with the devil.

Carlisle continued once he seen that I was hesitant; "I'll sign over the account to you and stop pestering you about Dartmouth, if you break it off with the chief's daughter."

I was mortified, fuming, and on the edge of losing it. "I can't believe you have the nerve to ask me that. I would never give her up for anything, especially any amount of money. She's not a bargaining chip Carlisle, she's a human being and for the hundredth time her name is _Bella_. What do you have against her?"

"I know Edward, but I'm only looking out for you. What are you going to do about school and tuition? What happens when she hurts you and there's nothing left for the both of you? It will happen Edward, I know you see it, so don't deny it any longer. I'm just looking out for you, son."

I scoffed, "_Son? _Since when have you ever considered me your son? AndI got news for you Carlisle, she's looking out for me too, way more then you are. And I am applying for the scholarship, and despite what you may believe, I will get it; I will get it because Bella believes that I will," I grabbed my jacket off the back of my chair and pushed my way past him.

"By the way, I invited _my girlfriend _over for Thanksgiving dinner, so she'll be here, so you better treat her like the sweet kind person she is."

I turned to run down the stairs but one final thought occurred to me, "I wonder what Esme would say if she knew what you were trying to convince me to do, _Uncle Carlisle_. Because I'm sure she wouldn't be too impressed with the man that she's supposed to love and who's supposed to love her back. Don't make me test that theory."

"Don't threaten me, Edward!" Carlisle shouted at me.

I smirked at him, "Don't push me Carlisle."

I stormed my way into the kitchen to find Esme sitting on the barstool going over her files for work.

"Hey, Esme I just wanted to make sure that it was okay that I invited Bella to Thanksgiving dinner with us," Esme smiled brightly just like I knew she would.

"Of course Edward, that would be lovely. I'll set an extra seating beside you and Rosalie."

I nodded and thanked her once before I made my way back out to our water tower. I needed to think for the night.

When it was almost quarter to one in the morning, I decided to make my way home, but once again I found myself turning left instead of right.

This wasn't an odd occurrence for me and Bella, every once and while I would climb up into her room and we would just talk, or sleep, or I would hold her as she slept silently for the night. So, I parked my car behind the bush as I usually did and walked around the block toward her house.

Her window was dark so I knew that she was sleeping for the night. I decided to climb the tree anyway; I was too pissed off at Carlisle to want to go home. So, just as I had on other nights, I skilfully and stealthily, climbed up the big oak tree outside Bella's window.

Her window was open a crack, so it was much easier for me to slip it open. Once inside I crouched down in front of Bella's sleeping form and lightly brushed my thumb over her lip once. I watched as her eyes lightly fluttered open and she smiled as soon as she seen me.

That smile always made me lose all doubt. It was just me and her now, no Carlisle, no Jacob, no school or anything else; the world vanished at the sight of that smile. We were together and I loved every minute of it. All my fears instantly drifted away.

"Hey," she whispered against my thumb.

"Hi," I smiled as I played with her pouting and drowsy lip. She moved over and lifted the covers to let me get in beside her, which I so graciously did.

I easily wrapped my arms around her as she snuggled into my chest, right where she belonged; where she fit.

"What's wrong, Edward? You're all tense," she asked. I just shrugged it off, "Nothing, it's all better now. I promise," I promised her as I kissed her hair. "Bella," I asked checking to make sure she was still awake. "Yeah, Edward," I smiled and leaned in to whisper into her ear, "Will you go to the Winter Formal with me?" I asked, hoping to god that she was coherent enough to understand what I was asking her.

Bella sighed happily, "Of course Edward, I love to go to the dance with you."

I grinned and pulled her close to me as she fell asleep just as she had been before I came in and disturbed her.

As I held her close I knew that I was already hers, even if she wasn't mine, I would forever be hers. I loved her, every ounce and every part of her. We might not have been ready to say those words to each other just yet, but I knew what my heart was feeling. I was undoubtedly hers, and completely in for the long haul.

Home wasn't with Carlisle and Esme in that cold big house. _This _was home. Sleeping in Bella's warm embrace was home, and I knew I wasn't going to move anytime soon.

* * *

**So, how was that? The _Vera Wang_ dress that Alice's father had sent her should be posted on my profile, and if you'd like to follow me on Twitter and want to find out when my next updates will be, there is a link on my profile to my Twitter page as well. **

**Please leave a review, they mean the world to me. Both comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. **

**Just like last time and as always, **

**~_DayDreamBeliever'93_  
**


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